Feral

Author's Note: It's finally up! Holy mother of Celestia Marie Dawnstar! So yeah, it took me a while to get this done due to the past two weeks being a living hell. Still, I apologize sincerely for taking so long. This chapter is basically all Marius/Luna, and there will be a VERY steamy scene in which they do become physically intimate. I included a big warning at the beginning of the scene, but I still recommend reading it if you can, for it is a very close moment between them. This is not to be considered wank material, but I really can't help it if someone cranks one out to the story. A massive thanks to my proofreader for this chapter, Drunk Ragdoll. That's about it. I hope you guys really enjoy chapter nine, and as always, remember to favourite, thumbs up, and all that other jazz.-Chain

"What love we've given, we'll have forever. What love we fail to give, will be lost for all eternity."
-Leo Buscaglia

The Lunar Guard slowly creaked open the right side of the large and elegant double doors. They were a deep blue stone that was embossed with the image of a crescent moon surrounded by a small section of the starry night sky. The Lunar pegasus clad in dark blue armor slowly poked his head into the dark room, scanning the darkness with his yellow, cat-like eyes for signs of movement.

"Princess?..." the guard spoke cautiously.

No answer.

Luckily, one of the advantages of being Princess Luna's personal guard was having the ability to see very well in the dark, almost as if a small amount of light were fused with shadow that brought out the edge of every shape and every formation in a dark area. This was thanks to the Illusion spell that was placed on their helmet which allowed them to have their feline eyes.

The night guard used them to look into the Princess's chambers.

The room was different from Celestia's, whereas some aspects were very similar. They both had long marble floors and were attached to a balcony that hung out the towers of Canterlot Castle. The Lunar pegasus scanned the room, looking at the Princess's large and beautifully designed bed with large silver bedposts and draping navy blue curtains decorated in depictions of the many constellations in the night sky. He continued to roll his glance over the plush blue carpets and the glistening silver tables and assorted furniture. The Princess of the Night did not require a fireplace like her sister, because she rather enjoyed the cold. It seemed she was nowhere to be seen.

The lunar stallion received a hard tap on the shoulder, which prompted him to cast his glance away from the room and look backward. There he found one of his daytime superiors glaring at him.

"Didn't the Princess tell you not to disturb her, Stalwart?" the burly royal guard asked.the night pegasus.

Stalwart turned out of the doorway and lightly closed the double doors before scoffing in the direction of the golden armor clad unicorn.

"One such as you has no right to remark on our jobs as our Mistress of the Night's bodyguards," he said crossly to the white unicorn. Stalwart quickly developed a smirk.

"Now leave us in peace, while thou still can."

The day guard was shocked at the manner of disrespect that Luna's personal guard showed him, as well as the other Lunar pegasus watching them and standing over by the other door leading to the Princess's room. The large burly Unicorn leaned down and got inches from Stalwart's face.

"How dare you speak to me in such a way! I am Sun Flower! One of Princess Celestia's select Royal Guards chosen to walk the castle at night and watch for intruders and the like! I am also your superior!" screamed the Royal Guard into Stalwart's face.

Both Lunar Guards looked at each other for a moment before bursting out in laughter.

"Doesn't thou think Sun Flower is a bit..er...feminine for a guards name?" asked Stalwart sarcastically to the furious higher-ranking guard now holding Stalwart by the collar of his armor.

Sun Flowers eye twitched.

"You insolent-"

"Doest thou have business here, guard?" came a soft spoken voice from the doorway.

Immediately recognizing the voice, Sun Flower let go of Stalwart's collar, and the guard quickly composed himself before slightly bowing and speaking towards Princess Luna, who was now standing in her doorway.

"Your Highness, I was just making sure that your guards followed their orders. After all, you said at evening court that you did not want to be disturbed-"

"By anyone other than my personal guard. Thank you for your concern on the matter. You may leave now Sun Flower," she told him kindly.

Sun Flower ground his teeth together when he heard light snickering coming from both of Luna's guards at the mention of his name once more.

"Of course...your Majesty," he hissed slighlty before standing up fully, turning, and stomping down the rest of the hallway.

When he was out of sight, both Stalwart and Stonewing, the other Lunar Guard, erupted in laughter. Princess Luna lightly chuckled before turning her head towards the slightly smaller Lunar pegasus on the left.

"Please do not antagonize the Royal Guard further Stalwart Steel. We do not wish to hear yelling outside our chambers," she spoke.

"Understood Princess Luna," Stalwart spoke formally. The Lunar pegasi had a very strong bond with their Princess, as there were only four of them in all, and they were all assigned to guard and befriend her. She was also the one who enchanted their armor for them which gave them their small fangs, yellow feline eyes, and bat wings.

"Now, what did thou want of us, Stalwart?" Luna asked her faithful bodyguard.

Stalwart Steel gave a sheepish grin to Luna.

"Well Princess, we assumed that thou were feeling...out of sorts or how one would would say down in the dumps this evening at court, so we wanted to make sure that you weren't upset in any way," responded Stalwart.

Luna gave a smile to her guard.

"Thank you for your concern, but we are quite alright. We are actually expecting a visitor later tonight, so if it seemed we were...out of it, it was because I was minorly nervous about our...err," she spoke but trailed off.

'What would be another word for date?' she thought quickly.

"...meeting. Hehe," she explained to her guards with a slightly nervous chuckle.

"Now, we wish to be left alone briefly, for we must get ready for our guest. There is much to be cleaned before he arrives," she announced with slight worry before trotting back into her room. A blue aura enveloped the doors and slowly closed them shut. Her guards slightly bowed at her before she walked back into the dark room and slowly closed the large double doors.

Stalwart looked over to Stonewing.

"A guest...and it's a he?" Stonewing spoke curiously. Stalwart narrowed his eyes before speaking softly,

"The Princess has never had a guest of any sort this late at night. Who could it be?" he asked noone in particular.

"We shall make sure he treats our Princess with respect. We shall interrogate him when we have a moment. Agreed?" Stalwart Steel asked his fellow guard.

Normally, Stonewing would never consider meddling in the Princess's affairs, but seeing how she acted one could assume this meeting might be very important to her, and they were dedicated to their Princess of the Night's happiness.

Stonewing turned to his fellow partner and grinned.

"Very well, but we have to be very careful about this..." the Lunar guards turned their glance back down the dark hallway.

"We might be too intimidating to him," Stonewing spoke while laughing along with Stalwart.

Three hours

It had been three hours since she last talked to her guard, and Luna was now sitting on her balcony, looking out over the dark city of Canterlot. There were several lights shining through windows of the city, but it was mostly quiet and peaceful due to everypony being asleep. The princess watched the faint twinkle of every star as it danced in her night sky. It seemed to reflect her mood. They seemed to be sitting and waiting as well. She looked up at them sadly for a good while before closing her eyes and sighing.

"Its midnight, and he's still not here," she said quietly to herself.

She cast her glance over to her dark room and looked inside just to make sure he didn't open the door and come in without her knowing, but the room was still empty. Her face slowly turned into a small scowl.

"He stood us up," she told herself, anger slowly building.

"Who stood you up?" came a voice from directly behind the Princess.

She jumped and nearly tripped over herself before snapping her head around to find the large Vampire crouching on the edge of her balcony with a concerned look on his face.

"Did you mean me? I would never...um...stand you up, was it? I just had to make sure my Master was asleep first. I do apologize for being late, though," he spoke to her as he folded his huge, outstretched wings into his back. The very motion they made when folding seemed to send gusts of cold wind across the balcony and into the Princess's room. Luna dropped her scowl but remained slightly annoyed nonetheless.

"Must you insist on sneaking up on ponies?" she asked him, not bothering to mask her tiny amount of annoyance.

Marius rubbed his chin in thought.

"No, I suppose I don't have to. But it is rather fun, don't you think?" he asked Luna is a playful tone, yet his voice was still as deep and dark as it ever was.

"Fun?" Luna asked herself.

"I am new to this fun, but we believe thou are referring to pranking, are you not?" Luna asked Marius, who was still crouched on the balcony's edge.

"I think that's what it is referred to, yes."

The Princess of the Night brought her hooves up to her mouth to contain her smile.

"Oh how wonderful! We love fun, and we have always wanted to try pranking," she announced giddily.

Marius merely smiled at her and slid off of the balcony's edge and onto the smooth stone floor.

Suddenly, a realization hit Luna.

Her date was here, and this was the first actual gathering that she had with someone in over a few thousand years. She asked him, but she didn't really think Marius would agree, yet here he was with her and she hadn't planned anything for them to do or to keep them entertained. She was brought out of her worrisome thoughts by a light tap on her shoulder. She turned her head to the right and lifted it up to look at the lumbering Marius, who had slowly walked over to her and now stood at Luna's side.

"Is something wrong?" he asked while looking down at her worried expression. The Princess once more found herself stammering while talking to Marius. She drank in the masculine and handsome features of the Vampire who stood so tall and broad at nearly eight feet tall. His somewhat short, yet disheveled brown hair seemed to dance along with the wind accompanied by his stout jaw leading to his smooth and pale face, no hair on it whatsoever besides his perfectly groomed brow. His smile could not hide his expression that could be described as almost lackadaisical, yet it had mystery and a faint hint of pride. The Vampire's deep red eyes were shimmering in the light of the pale moon, as they seemed to be peering into the Princess's soul.

"Well...umm, it's just that we, I...uhh..." she spoke while her inner conscience screamed at her awkward reaction and her eyes began to stare stare at the ground.

"Dost thou have an Abacus?" she asked sheepishly to the Vampire she found so attractive.

She wanted to bury herself in her blankets and hide for years after that question escaped her lips.

To here surprise, he let out a small laugh.

"I used to have several. Very useful for lab work," he said while giving her a gentle smile.

"Hehehe...we do too," she replied quietly while staring at the ground, wishing that she wasn't so socially awkward around others.

It was dead quiet besides the occasional howling of the wind for several minutes while both Luna and Marius stood on her balcony.

"I would very much love a tour of the Castle, if you don't mind that is...dear Luna," he kindly spoke to her, breaking the several minutes of awkward silence.

"A tour?" Luna asked herself as if she wasn't sure what Marius was requesting.

"A tour!" she yelled rather loudly and shot her glance up from the stone floor and smiled at Marius.

"We would love to show you the Castle! Nothing would please us more than to give you the grand tour of-"

"Excuse me, Princess?" Marius cut her off. She blinked.

"You do not have to keep using the Royal 'we'. I myself am very formal, but even I find its continued use to be a bit, umm..." Marius tried to be as sensitive as he could while talking with her.

"Silly," he said while being very careful not to hurt Luna's feelings.

"Hehehe," Luna chuckled, embarrassed.

"I am sorry. It's just that I am not used to being so informal. There is a brief bit of bad history between my sister and I, and it caused me foolishly to try and overthrow her. I assume you already know this from viewing my sister's memories, correct?" Luna asked.

"Yes, and I understand. Being confined to a location for several, or even just one millennia, can tend to affect social skills quite a great deal. I was asleep with nothing but my own thoughts for twelve of them, remember?" Marius reminded her. "So, believe me when I say that I can relate to you more than you realize, Luna," he told her with a kind smile.

The Princess of the Night was a bit surprised to find that someone understood her situation so well. She just stood and stared at the Vampire with a curious look.

'I was alone for one thousand years, and it nearly drove me mad. I couldn't even imagine...twelve,' she thought to herself before asking,

"So....do you wish me to give the tour now?"

"That would be lovely," he told Luna in a gentle tone.

She gave him a kind smile of her own before walking back into her room, Marius following right behind.

As they walked through Luna's chambers, every step they made seemed to echo in the large room. Marius drunk in the elegant designs of silver and blue carpets, along with the matching drapes over her large bed. Marius also looked around at the several paintings on the wall which were very mellow, depicting water color renditions of starry night skies and lakes with moonlight reflected off of its surface. Something odd caught Marius' eye at the edge against Luna's wall. It was a large black square object that had a mirror-like surface facing outward, and in front of the object were two plush, blue chairs designed for Pony comfortability.

"Luna?" Marius asked with baffled curiosity.

"Hmm? Yes Marius?" she asked the Vampire, who took his left hand out of his coat's pocket and pointed a finger towards the mysterious rectangle.

"What is that odd object?"

Luna stretched a smile from ear to ear.

"That is a device that our-er...my sister gave me recently since I arrived back from banishment to help pass the time and boredom here in the Castle. It's called a television," she told him happily.

Marius' eyes widened.

"I remember these! The humans invented these in the last era. It was their time for technological advances that were unheard of...but," he turned to Luna who was closing in on the large double doors that led to her hallway.

"How did you, let alone all of pony kind learn to make these?" he asked with utter disbelief, a trait that was very rare to him.

Luna lightly chuckled.

"Well, you surely know that your coffin wasn't the only thing we found buried, correct? After all, how do you think we found tomes depicting what you were? We have unearthed blueprints, cookbooks, and even some weaponry that was very weathered, but still able to examine," Luna explained. "Did you even look at all of my sister's memories when you tasted her blood?" she asked while still chuckling.

Marius became somewhat sheepish himself, and purposefully put on the worst poker face he could muster.

"Well...I admit I may have skimmed over other details, such as television blueprints, but I found what I was looking for."

Luna raised an eyebrow.

"You were searching for something? What was it you were looking for?" she asked him, puzzled.

Marius closed his eyes.

"Hmmm...Well you could just say he's an old friend of mine. I'll elaborate more on that later. Don't you have a tour you're supposed to be giving me?" he asked as if the Princess had forgotten.

"Aren't you the one who stopped and gawked at my television?" she shot right back with a grin.

Marius laughed quietly.

“I suppose you're right.”

They continued walking in the quiet and hollow bedroom until they reached the double doors. With a faint blue aura she opened the doors slightly and poked her head outside to speak to her guards. Both were still waiting patiently for the guest that she said would arrive tonight.

"Stalwart? Stonewing? I have someone I'd like you to meet," she told them. Both guards had stern looks on their faces and pivoted to look at their Princess directly.

"Yes your Majest...Maje...Maaaajesty?" Stalwart was rambling, for he did not expect what came out of his Princess's bedroom. He was at a loss for words as the Princess opened the double doors slowly and the massive Vampire took several steps out of the shadows. He bent down and looked the Lunar guard right in his eyes with blazing red orbs that Stalwart assumed were the creature's own eyes. He had on a smirk which bore a single fang that was much larger and sharper than their Illusionary fangs which were created by their helmet. He was smiling mere inches away from Stalwart's face when his clawed hand wrapped around Stalwart's hoof and began shaking it.

"Stalwart Steel and Stonewing, this is Marius," spoke the Princess who couldn't contain her light giggles at the scared expressions of her guards.

Marius smile only widened.

"Charmed!" he thundered in his deep voice, causing Stalwart's helmet to vibrate until it was leaning on the right side of his head. Stalwart slowly brought his other hoof up and pushed it back into place, mouth still agape.

"We shall be taking a tour of the Castle. Both my guest and I will arrive back shortly," she told them.

"Yes your Majesty," softly spoke Stonewing who also stood and watched the Vampire with wide eyes.

Marius stopped shaking Stalwart Steel's hoof and put both his hands back in his coat pockets. He looked over at Luna and nodded, who smiled and nodded in return. They were then off down the dark hallway, Luna's bodyguards watching them the whole way. Both slowly turned to face one another and look at each other's expressions. Stonewing gulped before they both turned their heads back to notice that Luna and Marius were nearly out of sight.

"Have fun interrogating him Stalwart," spoke Stonewing in a shaky voice.

The other guard snapped his head in the direction of his comrade.

"Why me?!"

"...and this is the window that depicts when my sister and I overthrew Discord and began our reign over Equestria, bringing harmony to the land and uniting others, creating other colonies across the seas," Luna explained in a proud tone. Marius took it all in, learning from their mysterious and miraculous birth from the nobles of the Unicorn tribe and Discord's reign, along with his unknown origins.

"So this Discord was the embodiment of Chaos...yet he never killed a single pony?" the Vampire asked Luna. She seemed aghast at his question.

"Of course not! Why would he kill anypony?!" Luna asked, not sure of why the Vampire would ask such a ghastly thing.

The Vampire cocked his head to the side while looking at the large stained glass window that depicted Discord being turned into stone by the Celestia and Luna, both harnessing the Elements.

"Well, it seems to me that he never actually intended to hurt anyone or cause direct misery and agony, therefore he wasn't really evil per-say, he was just..." Marius stopped speaking and thought to himself,

'Insult...insult...Lyre was good with insulting, so what would he say?'

"....an asshole," Marius chuckled. He didn't actually curse often, so it was a strange thing to hear it escape his lips. He glanced over at Luna and she looked mildly irritated.

"What do you mean just an asshole? He was a tyrant. He made all of our houses and Castles float upside down, made us all argue with each other, and even made it rain chocolate milk in our sacred land for years!" the Princess raised her voice a little more than needed.

Marius' eyes clenched shut and he threw his head back.

"Bahahahahaha!" Marius held his stomach while laughing for a good while, during which Luna stood next to him in the stained glass covered hallway with a deadpan look.

"Are you finished?" she asked in a monotone voice, loud enough so the Vampire could hear her through his laughter. He held up a finger as he continued to strain out a few more chuckles.

"Oh my, I can't believe you all got bent out of shape over something as small as that. Hahaha," he spoke.

"Honestly, I don't see what's so funny," Luna said under her breath, looking away with a small pout. Marius saw and began to feel the tiniest tinge of guilt.

"I'm sorry Luna. I shouldn't have laughed over something so serious to you. I just...let's just say we've had to deal with VERY different types of enemies," he told her with a smile. He took a couple steps over to where she was standing beside the wall of the hallway, next to a potted plant and table, and no longer pouting.

"Forgive me?" he asked kindly and sincerely to the Princess.

She gave a sheepish chuckle at the Vampire's sincerity.

"Marius, don't be silly. I wouldn't get so angry with you for something as trivial as laughing. Not even my temper is that ill-mannered," she told him.

Marius shocked the Princess a little by reaching down and grabbing her hoof.

"Thank you...my dear Luna," he spoke softly looking into the Princess's light blue eyes. She watched as he slowly closed his own, and brought her sleek and elegant left hoof up to his face, closer and closer to his lips. The Princess slowly widened her eyes like she was having an epiphany.

'He's kissing my hoof. Oh my gosh...ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh...He's going to kiss my hoof! He's actually going to kiss my hoof! That's so ROMANTIC!' her mind screamed, yet her body didn't seem to agree with her. As soon as the Vampire's lips lightly touched the soft fur of her upper hoof, Luna's social awkwardness screamed at her as well.

'You're going to ruin this date...NOW!' it spoke, and once the Vampire's soft and caring lips made contact, her leg twitched upward and her silver slipper collided with his nose.

'NOOOOOOOOOO! CREATION DAMMIT!' Luna's mind screamed at her.

Marius slightly recoiled backwards and giggled after being accidentally kicked in the face by Luna, who immediately pressed her teeth together in a worried manner and outstretched her hooves to try and comfort Marius' face.

"We-I mean I, are so sorry! Are you alright?!" she yelled.

"Do you need medical attention?! I can get medical atte-"

"Luna..." he spoke and twisted his nose back into place with a sickening crack.

"I am fine. I can regenerate my entire body, and all you did was dislocate my nose. I won't need to be put in a hospital or anything of the sort," he assured her. Luna breathed a large sigh of relief.

"I'm so sorry, Marius. I just don't know why I did that," she said sadly, feeling horrible about kicking her date,

"It's alright Luna...really," he told before stretching out his hands and straightening Luna's crown which got jostled to the right side of her mane while she was trying to check Marius' face for hemorrhaging or other types of serious injuries that would never have occurred.

"It is very funny to me, though, how you have such a strong kick for being so small. Hahaha," he laughed as Luna felt his fingers caress her ethereal, azure colored mane, moving the crown back into it's original position. His light touch felt wonderful even on her scalp.

'Why am I acting like this? I know I'm not the most social of ponies, but I'm acting like a nervous schoolfilly or something, she told herself while he was speaking, frustrated beyond belief while letting Marius readjust her crown for her. Once he was done he stood up straight and walked over to the next large stained glass window.

"Now, what does this one depict? That looks like my master and her friends, only they are wearing the jewelry that you and your sister were using in the previous window," he said with interest in the beautiful window.

Luna began to feel that same tinge of regret that she always felt when discussing this subject.

"That is me that they are using the Elements on. Each of the six ponies is a bearer of an Element of Harmony, and they harnessed them when purging me off the greed and selfishness that overtook me when I wanted to rule Equestria," she spoke sadly.

"I see..." was all the Vampire said for a brief period while studying the window.

"So, this was when you were referred to as Nightmare Moon, and you wanted everlasting night, correct?" he asked her.

Luna let out a long, sorrowful sigh and looked at the lush red carpet on the ground that led down the whole hallway.

"Yes..." she spoke.

"Well, I guess some just don't appreciate the beauty and tranquility of your night as much as we do, Luna," Marius told her.

Luna's eyes shot open, not believing what she just heard. She lifted her head and stared at the Vampire several feet away who now had his eyes closed and arms crossed.

"You...you actually mean that?" she asked with her voice a tad shaky.

Marius gave her a warm and kind smile from where he was standing.

"Of course I do. Did you think I would lie or something similar?"

The Princess of the Night's eyes began to glisten, as if she was on the verge of tears. After hearing her story of selfishness in wanting to overthrow her sister and seeing how much sorrow it caused in the blood memories of Celestia herself, he still accepted her. He accepted the night and he understood its true beauty, whereas others would shun it and disregard it. Here, standing in this very hall, was finally a creature who understood what she went through and connected with her.

"Did I say something wrong?" asked Marius who noticed the Princess's sad expression.

"No...far from wrong, actually. Thank you for the compliment...Marius." she said quietly, giving a sad smile to the Vampire.

"I only speak the truth, Princess," he returned her smile while watching her wipe her beautiful light blue eyes with her arm, just to find that she didn't have any tears on her face.

"So, because I am somewhat lazy and do not feel like sifting through all these blood memories, which Element did my master bear?" the Vampire asked.

"Rarity represents the Element of Generosity," she answered.

Marius did a double take.

"How in the Deep Realm is she generous? I didn't know it was generous to give whining as a gift!" the Vampire spoke, but his ears cringed at the term whining. He was learning not to use that word around the boutique anymore.

Luna chuckled slightly.

"I'm sure she is not that bad. I have spoken to Rarity, and happen to think she is just a bit of what they refer to now as a diva," Luna remarked.

"I love her voice as well. It sounds very familiar to me, though I do not know why. Hehehe" she sheepishly laughed while Marius brought his hand up to mouth and held back a chuckle.

'This is wonderful. The date is going really well, and he's so much fun to talk to. Best of all, he doesn't resent me for sucker-hoofing his face.' she thought happily. Luna then became curious while they were laughing together.

"So, what's the Deep Realm?"

Marius was no longer laughing.

She watched his expression instantly change to one that terrified her.

His eyes became narrow and seemed to turn into a duller red than they were before. His black iris' twisted at the mention of the place, and he developed an expression that could only be described as pure, seething, hatred, and the intent to kill and torture. No longer did his eyes seem to reflect sadness and pride, but instead they became the eyes of a monster, while they looked directly at the wall in front of him.

Luna became frightened at the instant change of demeanor.

"Ma...Marius?" she tried to get his attention, but it did't seem to work.

"I'm sorry..." she spoke in the tiniest voice she had ever used, while on the verge of tears once more and looking up at the large Vampire.

Marius expression changed back to normal in seconds. He closed his eyes.

"...*sigh*...Don't be, Luna. It was my fault that I foolishly mentioned it. It was only natural you'd get curious," he told her. "As much as you may be curious, I'll have to ask you to refrain from asking me that. Understood?" he told her sternly.

Luna looked very concerned, but knew that whatever he didn't want known, there was a good reason for it.

"I understand," she said softly.

Marius looked down at her sadly.

"Thank you."

It was quiet in the hallway for a little while, before Luna decided to continue walking down the hallway with Marius following her once more at an equal pace.

"Just so you know...the Nightmare armor is the tackiest ensemble for a villain I have ever seen," Marius told her with a smirk.

Luna gasped as if he insulted her directly and turned to punch him in the gut with her hoof.

"I'll have you know that it happened to be very intimidating to our subjects, and continues to be!" she said with a playful grin.

"Pfffft, if your subjects are puppies and baby kittens," he spoke smugly.

"Yes, because dressing in a black overcoat is soooo terrifying, isn't it Marius? Honestly, do you have to be so drab?" she asked.

"Well, I guess someone isn't that shy around me anymore, are they?" Marius asked smugly.

Luna rubbed the back of her head with her hoof, ruffling some of her mane in the process.

"Hehehe. I guess not," she spoke.

The hallway suddenly came to a split at two large double doors that were identical to Luna's, only they were white and embossed with the image of an orange sun.

Marius developed a sly grin.

"Are these your sister's chambers?" he asked Luna.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

Marius' grin only got more wicked and sinister, before he turned to Luna and asked,

"Do you feel like having a little bit of fun?"

"Just....one...more..." spoke Luna as quietly as possible.

"Hnnnnnnoooonngghhkk...shewwwwwww" snored Celestia loud enough to wake up a family of bears.

"You're so close Luna! You can do it," Marius whispered encouragingly.

Ever so gently, she moved the last object into place with a faint blue glow of her aura. She had to be very careful, or she might wake her sister.

'This is very hard to do without waking her. I don't think it will fit.' she thought to herself, worrying that their plan would fail. Even though Celestia was a heavy sleeper, the hard part was the actual penetration, for they had done several by now but this one had very little room left, plus everything around them was beginning to get sticky.

Slowly but surely, the last remaining sticky object had become one with the Princess of the Day and Luna released the faint glow aura. She smiled and snickered under her breath while Marius did the same. Both of them were on Celestia's bed, hovering over her. Luna reached out her hoof for Marius to fist bump, which he did before both of them unanimously shouted under their breath, "Yes!"

"Hnnnnnnoooonngghhkk...shewwwwwwwww" Celestia still snored loudly, completely unaware of the atrocity that her sister and Marius had just committed. Both hoodlums in question leaned back a bit on the bed to admire their handiwork.

"Wow, I can't believe she could fit that many," Marius spoke quietly.

"Well, she does have plenty of room. I should know," Luna said while chuckling to herself.

Both had a content smile on their face as they looked at the nine glazed doughnuts that they had stacked on Celestia's horn.

"Why does she even keep all of this food in her room?" Marius asked himself

Luna sighed and lightly flopped down on her sister's bed, and Marius soon followed her, laying down as well while letting his legs hang off the side of the bed. He turned to Luna to find that Celestia's bottom hooves were in his way, so he lightly took them in his hands and folded them upwards so that her legs were now folded as well and out of Marius' way. He looked at Luna, who turned her head and looked into his eyes while biting her lip. Both soon found themselves snickering under their breath and trying to contain their laughter. Their snickering finally died down in the large, dark room after several minutes. Rather than actually talk, Marius figured it would be easier to telepathically communicate.

'Will she be angry with you for doing this?' Marius asked Luna, who was a little surprised that he would form a telepathic link rather than actually whisper.

'Most likely, but she can't stay too angry for longer than an hour. Our dear sister has never been one to hold a grudge.' she told Marius before looking up at her sister's face from the bottom of the bed. Celestia still snored and a single glob of sugar glaze dropped down from the top doughnut and landed on her sister's cheek, causing Celestia to slightly falter in her snoring and smack her lips together.

"Not even when we deserve it," she thought while letting out a slight "Hmm," from her smiling lips.

Both were silent for a moment while they both stared and watched the Ruler of Equestria snore loudly.

'You have a lot of love for her, don't you?' he asked Luna through the tele-link.

'Yes...I do. I betrayed her and she banished me for my own good. When I came back, I was resentful so I once more tried to overpower her. Then Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the Elements of Harmony saved me from my own greed and desire. Yet even after all this, she welcomed me openly and never stopped loving me for a second. Not in our entire lives has she once stopped loving me, no matter how difficult I make things for her.' she explained to him.

'Huh...sounds like me with a certain other individual.' he spoke in her head.

Luna turned to look at him with a sadness and pity.

'Its your brother...isn't it? The one called Lyre?"

This time, it was Marius who let out a faint "Hmm." from his lips.

'Yes. Throughout our childhood, I would always protect him and Elle. He would always pick fights he couldn't finish, and I would have to end up finishing them for him. He was fast, but in our youth he had no idea how to properly utilize his speed to his advantage. Then on that horrible day, the day when our reason for existing was taken from us and tortured before our eyes, he blamed himself. For five hundred years after we turned, he would apologize to me every day, because he knew that if he had never drawn his blades and put them against King Endramus' throat, our family would have still been alive, and we wouldn't be monsters.' he thought to the Princess, who was listening intently to the Vampire, word for word. Marius closed his eyes and smiled, as if he was reminiscing a time when he was happy.

'I told him it didn't matter. He was still my brother. We were brothers when we were mortals, and we still were brothers in immortality. Lyre and I may have had our differences and fought quite often, because I was the Ruler of Walpurgis and he was a psychotic and murderous assassin who fornicated with everything that had a female build...but I still told him that I loved him every single day and would watch over and protect him like I always have...and always will.' he thought.

It was quiet in the room for a while.

'That's what you searched my sister's memories for, isn't it?' Luna asked. 'Lyre was sealed away like you and you want to find him, correct?'

'Yes. I want to find him and show him this land. This is what we've fought for after all. A land with utter peace and no more unnecessary killing.' he told her.

Luna lifted her hooves down towards the center of the bed where Marius' right hand lay, and she grabbed his clawed hand in both hooves. Slowly she brought his hand up to were her face was, and placed the cold hand on her warm cheek, hand-in-hooves still. She could feel his soft and cool skin through her dark blue fur, lightly pressing it down and matting it just the tiniest bit. The light and caring touch of the Princess was also lovely for the Vampire, who wasn't used to such a warm display of affection. As the Princess held Marius' hand to her cheek, she gave a heartfelt smile to the Vampire as he took his thumb and let his claw lightly brush over the left side of her warm and tender face in a gentle half circle.

"We shall help you then. Both my sister and I will," she spoke before boldly bringing the Vampire's hand up to her lips and giving it the softest of kisses, and cradled it into her warm chest, arms and hooves holding it close.

Marius smiled warmly and lowered his eyes.

"Definitely not nervous anymore," he spoke, at a volume that would have made Fluttershy strain to listen.

"Be silent, Marius. If you would prefer, I could take you to the ballroom and leave you there," she grinned playfully while still cradling the Vampire's right arm and hand.

Marius raised an eyebrow.

"Ballroom, you say?" he asked.

Luna rolled her eyes while grinning.

"I guess we now know where you want to go next,"

The ballroom was indeed very large, and the grey and white tiles that made up the floor matched the stone walls perfectly, as well as the many stone pillars on each side of the elongated ballroom right next to several large golden Alicorn statues. On one end were two huge blue doors that led outside to the garden courtyard, where the many garden parties were held each year. Marius scanned upwards and the long red carpet in the middle of the room led up to a golden chair with plush red seats, embellished with Celestia's cutie mark. All of this was just barely illuminated by the moonlight cascading in from the windows.

Marius smirked at the Day Princess's ballroom throne. Then he finally found what he was looking for.

His eyes trailed to the left and found a large stage with several chairs and stands, but what he was looking for wasn't the many assorted objects around the stage.

On top of the stage was a large, black, eighty-eight keyed wonder that called out to him. Marius turned his head to the right and looked at Luna, who was watching him survey the scenery with a smile.

"Do you like the ballroom? I always personally thought it was a bit flashy, but 'Tia has always said that a more dignified appearance represents Equestria's true spirit. I didn't know what that meant when I was younger, but now I-" the Princess stopped speaking abruptly as she felt Marius lean down and grab her arm at the shoulder. He lightly lifted her arm into the air until his hand slid elegantly all the way to her hoof and he led her hoof-in-hand towards the ballroom's stage.

"I want you to hear something. It's not very often I get to do this, so I want you to be with me when I do," he told her. The consideration he showed and the gentlecoltly, or gentlemanly rather, way he treated her as he held her hoof the whole way was enough to make her cheeks lightly blush. He led her to the steps leading to the stage and bowed lightly before ushering her up the stairs.

"After you, ma'dam. I hear pray-tell that beauty always goes before the beast," he spoke to her. She blushed only a little further at the compliment and daintily stepped up each of the five steps leading to the stage. Marius quickly followed right behind her as he had done the whole night, until he reached the beautifully crafted black piano he had spotted. He noticed that it had a bench so he lightly pulled the bench out and went around to sit down. Marius used both hands to fling back his coat so that the long, black tail draped over the bench. Luna watched him curiously for a moment. He adjusted his body so that it was straight and in proper posture before popping every joint in his hands by snapping both of them all the way open, as if he were counting to five. Then he relaxed his clawed fingers and flexed them in his palm. The Vampire then looked Luna dead in the eye and spoke,

"I know that we are very similar, and I also know that you wish to know more about me and connect with me emotionally, even more so than you have so far. Therefore, you need to hear this song, for it is me..." he spoke sternly before placing his hands over the keys, readying them to play.

He didn't move for a time, and the anticipation Luna found herself having could almost be cut with a knife, for it was very palpable.

Then he started to play.

It was a slow and somber melody. Luna was a skilled musician and a beautiful singer, but she was not prepared for the emotion that flowed from the Vampire's song. It was somber, yet tranquil. Peaceful, yet filled with sorrow and regret. The actual technique that Marius used was unknown to the Princess, but it seemed that he was playing in C# minor from what she could tell. He was playing a steady flow of triplets in a 4/4 rhythm. Four beats in a measure and a triplet for each beat, accompanying each new measure with a lower Octave that matched the varying chord structures.

All put together, it was a slow sonata that seemed to reflect the soul of night itself, which struck Luna down into her core. She felt the song within her as the Vampire continued to play the soft and slow moving melody. Luna lightly began to walk behind Marius as he was playing. She lifted her body upward and stretched out her wings slightly, before resting her harness covered body gently on Marius' back, and crossing her arms over his chest so as not to interfere with his playing in the process. She leaned her head down a few inches to match the sitting Vampire's height with her own, and she nestled her soft, fur-covered cheek into his. Luna didn't realize it but there was a steady stream of tears that she had flowing out of her, and while Marius played he returned her gesture and rubbed against her face with the side of his, lightly building up heat between his cold and dead skin and the beautiful Princess of the Night's warm fur and slightly elongated muzzle.

The moonlight seemed to wrap around them like a blanket and the flowing ethereal mane of the Princess glimmered in its beauty. The tenderness that they felt with each other seemed to last for hours, even though it was a mere six minutes. After Marius trailed the last of the triplets off, he slowly took his hands off the wonderfully polished black and white keys and put them on his thighs.

"I understand now, " she whispered softly, her face still cradled to Marius' and her tears still flowing forth, wetting her fur and dripping down the Vampire's face.

"The loneliness...all this time, it's been...it's been horrible, hasn't it?" she asked.

"The agony of not seeing them again. That's what you ultimately paid for being the way you are. You said you gave up your soul, but the thing that tears you apart more than anything is...never being able to see your wife and daughters again," Luna spoke.

There was silence in the room for a long while until Luna bit her bottom lip and clenched her eyes shut.

"How have you lived like this all of these years?" she spoke shakily.

"Painfully...wishing that one day the impossible would happen, and I would be allowed a permanent death. You see, it's a shame really. It's not until you have lived as long as I and seen as much as I have that you begin to see permanent death as a gift," he explained to her.

"A gift that I will never receive, no matter how much I want it," he spoke softly.

Luna could hold back anymore. She let go of his back and threw herself into his arms, burying her face into his chest and sobbing.

Marius wrapped his arms around the Princess and patted her mane.

"Shhh...let's no longer speak of such sorrowful things. We're going to ruin our night if we continue like this," he spoke to Luna. He lifted her head from his chest and wiped her tears out from under her eyes.

"I am in the presence of a lovely lady tonight, and I refuse to let her cry over my past when we could be doing something fun instead," he announced to her happily as he was wiping her tears away. She merely smiled and gave a few sniffles.

Both of them laughed in agreement.

"How about we head back to my room, then? I think I might have an idea for some more fun we could have," she spoke with a playful tone.

"You do? Does it involve your guards, who have been shadowing us this whole night?" Marius spoke quietly as not to let the one hiding behind the doorway hear him.

"Haha. It might..."

"That ingrate! I do not care how large the creature is! Nopony makes our Mistress of the Night shed tears! Dost thou hear me?!" screamed Stalwart.

Stonewing began to get furious.

"Wilst thou silence themselves?!" Stonewing screamed. "We barely made it back from the ballroom without being noticed. Besides, whose to say the creature was the one who made our Princess shed tears to begin with?" Stonewing asked his fellow guard with irritation at his childlike anger.

Stalwart Steel looked horrified.

"Thou...art a traitor. We both saw what we saw. The creature reached the piano he was searching for, pretended to play for a while, probably for a few sad attempts at laughter, and then afterwards Princess Luna bursts into tears. How can it be any different than him making her cry, because it seems like that is what happened to me!" Stalwart explained to his friend.

Stonewing looked down at the floor, curiously, before tapping his hoof to his chin.

"Isn't it funny how he was actually pressing down on the keys, yet no sound was coming out? I remember that there was a gathering in that ballroom not even a week ago, and that piano was used. Could the strings have been removed or cut in such a brief amount of time?" Stonewing asked out loud.

Stalwart looked at the ground in concentration.

"Now that thou mentions this, I did notice that he was pressing down on the keys of the piano and it almost seemed like our Princess could hear a melody...so....why weren't we able to hear it?"

"It was not meant for you to hear," boomed an unexpected voice from the shadows that made Stalwart nearly trip and Stonewing readied himself for a confrontation, while putting on his best fearsome scowl.

Suddenly, Stonewing and Stalwart were enveloped in a deep red aura and hoisted in the air. They struggled to break free from the magical grip, but to no avail. They couldn't move any part of their bodies except for their facial features and mouths. The shadows around them darted to the center of the hallway like snakes moving in for the kill, and wrapped around each other to form a large silhouette. The shadow from the silhouette slowly faded to reveal a wickedly smirking Marius, who was making his eyes glow a deeper and more burning red than normal. Both guards watched, unable to move as he reshaped himself in front of them. They still struggled against the intense pull of magic that prevented their dark blue armor from budging an inch.

"What hast thou done with the Princess, you creature?!" screamed Stonewing from up in the air, who happened to begin to be very worried.

"You shouldn't have eavesdropped on us," the Vampire said with a wicked grin on.

"Answer him!" screamed Stalwart, who was still trying to fight the strong restraint of the magic, but to no avail. The deep red aura surrounding them and preventing them from moving only intensified under their struggle.

"Very well. If your must know she's right here with me," he spoke with a sinister tone that matched his deep and smooth voice perfectly.

"and she was delicious!" he yelled with a terrifying grin on his face.

Both guard's eyes widened at what they realized he meant.

"You...ate her?" Stonewing hissed under his breath.

"You ate...our loving Princess of the Night?!" Stalwart screamed. "GIVE HER BACK TO US NOW, YOU MONSTER!"

Marius only developed a more sadistic grin than before as his eyes became wider and wider. He started letting out a sick and twisted giggle from underneath his breath. The Vampire could really play the part of a heartless villain well from his many years of experience in war and death.

"Oh don't worry...." his grinning Vampire's eyes were now as wide as they could get, staring at the two terrified guards who remained brave and strong nonetheless. Their bodies began to tremble at the thought of being eaten alive.

"...you will see her soon enough," whispered a feminine voice right behind the ears of Stalwart.

"AAAAAAAEEEEEHHH!" screamed a shocked Stalwart Steel, who nearly wet himself at the sudden voice inches away from his ear. Marius guffawed in laughter just as the source of the voice behind Stalwart and Stonewing put her hoof to her mouth and laughed as well.

"Hahahaha. I hope we didn't frighten you too badly," said the Princess of the Night to her levitated guards.

"Princess!" Stonewing announced relieved that the Princess was okay, while Stalwart continued to hyperventilate.

"Thou...*pant*...nearly...*pant...*pant...put me in an early grave Princess," Stalwart said while trying to catch his breath.

Luna quickly had a look of disappointment on her face.

"Well, we did not expect our own guards to eavesdrop on us either, but your Princess thinks that a bit of frightening is a just punishment. Wouldn't you agree, Marius?" she asked the Vampire as he slowly brought her two guards back down to the floor of the hallway. They recomposed themselves and bowed before their Princess.

"We are very sorry Princess," Stonewing spoke like he was just scolded.

"We should not have followed, when thou wished to be alone with your guest Marius. Forgive us Princess Luna," spoke Stalwart sadly.

Both guards drooped their heads to the ground as if they had failed in their duty to protect her, and immediately, Luna felt a horrible tinge of guilt for scaring her close personal guard when they were merely concerned for her well-being.

She let out a long sigh.

"No, it is I who should be sorry. I had Marius scare you senseless for worrying about me. I am the one who is sorry," she told both guards, who were shocked that the Princess actually humbled them and apologized even though they went against their orders.

"I apologize as well. I shouldn't have let her talk me into it," Marius spoke to the Lunar Guards who turned their heads backwards. Marius gave a playful grin to Luna.

"She's a horrible influence, you know..."

Luna pursed her lips in anger and gave a scowl to her Vampiric date.

"I'll show you bad influence..."

Marius merely smiled at her as if he had done nothing wrong whatsoever.

"Hehehe. Temper temper," he told her cautiously.

"Suddenly, Luna put on a sly smirk that made Marius blush.

"What do you say we settle this in a fight?"

Marius was visibly shocked to hear her suggest that they actually do battle.

"K.O.!" roared the speakers of the television.

Marius ground his teeth and fangs together in frustration while he sat in the comfortable chair.

'Sixteen to zero?...HOW MUCH DOES SHE PLAY THIS DAMNED GAME?!' Marius' mind screamed.

Luna threw the controller down and started dancing around the room. She had taken her crown, armor, and slippers off and now wore no vestments whatsoever to get as comfortable as possible before humiliating her date while playing Pony Fighter: IV on her Xbuck 360. They had played sixteen matches in a row, two rounds each and Luna beat him each time, growing happier and happier as she beat her date. By the last match, Luna got up out of the plush, blue chair she was sitting in, and starting dancing around her room singing to herself,

"Huzzah! I wooon, you loooost! I'm the best Princess eveeeer! Hahahaha-haaahaaa!" Luna sang loudly while bouncing and dancing around the middle of her room, Marius' anger growing by the second.

"I hope you know that my controller's batteries died, so a lot of those were just flukes!" he yelled at her while she continued to giggle and dance. The Vampire watched her with a scowl as she jumped on her large bed and waved her plot in the air, messing up her soft blue sheets and blankets.

"You can kiss it Marius, because we changed those batteries...yesterdaaaaay!" she announced smugly to the Vampire while she continued to shake her posterior at him for a few seconds. Marius couldn't hold back his scowl anymore, and it soon broke into a wide smile as he threw his head back in laughter. Luna smiled widely and soon jumped down from her bed and flared her wings outward while falling on the ground laughing, not believing she just did that when someone else was around.

"Bahahahaha*snort*-" Luna gave a very loud snort in her cute little laughter which caused Marius to stop momentarily and look at her. Her cheeks became red hot as she gave a sheepish smile from where she lay on the floor, wings outstretched and mane sprawled out all over the carpet.

"Please don't make me banish you by telling everypony that I snort when I laugh really hard," she told him through her sheepish smile. Marius blinked and was soon laughing along with Luna once more.

"Haha*snort*...hahahaha*snort*," the blue Princess turned temporary piglet continued to snort through her gales of laughter. They stopped eventually, and Luna took her hooves and lightly wiped her eyes from where she started crying from laughing so hard.

"Ohhh my...that was so much fun," Luna said as she worked her way up from her floor and back to standing.

"I agree," Marius spoke happily. He really couldn't remember when he enjoyed being with another individual this much.

"Even though I couldn't win once. I honestly think you cheated," Marius spoke with mild irritation. The Princess slowly walked over to where the Vampire was stretching his arms and legs upwards after getting up from her chair on the right side of the fifty-two inch television that was still on the "Rematch?" screen.

"Don't give me that Marius. You lost because you're too predictable. Even 'Tia can play better than that, and she's horrid!" Luna said while chuckling into her right hoof. "Try doing something unexpected next time, Marius."

Marius raised an eyebrow.

"Unexpected...you say?" he asked with a devilish grin.

"Yes, somethi-" she was cut off.

'Unexpected...' Luna thought.

She couldn't speak, for in a fluid motion, Marius closed his eyes, placed his hand under the Princess's soft jaw, moved it slightly so she was looking upwards, and placed his lips gently against hers.

His soft yet cold lips seemed to send chills down to the very core of her being.

'He's kissing me...he's actually-'

'Are you going to kiss me back, or not?' asked the Vampire as he cracked open his left eye in annoyance.

The Princess snapped back into reality as she slowly closed her eyelids, and began to move her lips. She slightly opened and closed them along with the Vampire's lips as they ever so slightly began to build the smallest warmth between their mouths, repeatedly connecting one tender kiss after another. Luna matched Marius in every motion and every breath that he took. She slowly stretched her arms upwards and wrapped her hooves around his neck and brought him in close, pressing his lips harder into hers.

They were illuminated by the dim light of a single lamp by the Princess's bed that matched her dark blue sheets. It seemed to reflect its rays onto the pair, perfectly accenting the light hue of Luna's fur and the smooth facial features of the Vampire who the Princess found so attractive.

As she wrapped her hooves around his neck and brought him in close while he leaned down, she deepened the kiss further. She lightly nudged the Vampire's lips open, which prompted Marius to begin gently sliding his tongue into Luna's mouth and lightly massage hers, before wrapping his arms around her midsection. Luna lifted her tongue and softly swirled around the Vampire's tongue with her own, letting them flick together with heated and passionate satisfaction. Occasionally her tongue, while dancing along with Marius' would gently caress one of his sharp fangs, not quite hurting her but catching her off guard and sending shivers through her body. The Princess didn't know where she was at this moment. All she knew as she intensified her hold on Marius' neck and let their lips and tongues display everything that they had to say to one another, was that she felt utterly at bliss and didn't want to be anywhere else but in the Vampire's arms.

After several minutes, their lips slowly pulled apart in one last gentle kiss.

They slowly opened their eyes and looked at one another with content smiles.

"That was...it was so..." Luna spoke barely above a whisper, trying to describe the utter bliss she felt when passionately kissing Marius.

"Unexpected?" he said with a smug look.

Luna closed her eyes and brought her hoof up to her mouth, giving a slight chuckle.

"Also, two things:" she spoke to him while chuckling.

"Hmm?" Marius mumbled under his lips, waiting to hear what she had to say.

"One, your lips taste like icing. You ate some of my sister's treats when we were in her room, didn't you?" she accused with a grin.

Marius gasped and looked offended at the Princess's accusation, who still had her hooves wrapped around his neck and was not even inches from his face.

"Why, I'm insulted you would even suggest that I leave such fine treats there, when they were begging me to enjoy them," he spoke in fake offense. "Didn't you hear them say, 'Eat us! Save us from Princess Doughnut Head!' I mean, they practically begged me to eat them!" Marius swore and Luna peeled her head back in laughter. She stopped and placed a gentle peck on Marius' lips before speaking,

"Alright, two, and this is more for just me in particular. It is very odd kissing someone without a muzzle," she spoke. She closed her eyes and sheepishly smiled before opening them to see the Vampire with a look of curiosity on his face.

"Would you prefer me to give myself one?" Marius asked.

This time it was Luna's turn to look curious.

"What do you mean, Marius?" she asked while raising her right eyebrow eyebrow.

Marius smiled in return and lightly pulled her arms off of his shoulders and neck, letting the Princess stand back on all four hooves before he himself stood all the way up. He took five slow steps back, and looked at Luna with a smile.

Luna gasped.

'Why is there blood coming out of his eyes?' she thought to herself.

In seconds, a gush of dark blood escaped from the edge of Marius' eyes and wrapped around his entire body, then his bodily structure compacted into a dark ball hovering above the floor. At first the Princess was terrified until it stretched back outwards and once again took form. Soon, all the blood dissipated and was sucked back into Marius' eye sockets.

Luna's jaw dropped and her eyes were as wide as saucers.

There...standing where Marius stood, was a huge black-furred Alicorn with massive bat wings and a long, sharp horn. The black Alicorn was just a tad taller than Celestia and his mane was a shimmering ethereal like her sister's and her's, but it was compiled of seven different shades of blood-esque red, which matched his glowing red eyes and fanged smirk. On the black Alicorn's flanks were adorned two Ankhs that were also blood red which Luna recognized as the symbols on Marius' coat, the Masquerade Ankh. She looked into the eyes of the Alicorn, mouth agape.

"So, what do you think? Is it me?" the Alicorn asked in the voice of her date.

"H...how?" was all Luna could muster.

The large black Alicorn merely rolled its red eyes at her before speaking,

"Pfffft, easy. One of my strongest abilities is complete control over my body and blood. I can shapeshift into anything I wish. A dragon, a wolf, an Alicorn, or even a household toaster," Marius explained to her while rolling his new black hoof in the air until it popped.

"That's so incredible. Not even our magic can turn a pony, let alone something else entirely into an Alicorn like my 'Tia, Cadance , and I!" she told Marius, baffled at his new form.

Her curiosity was quickly cut off however, as Marius wrapped his large wingspan around her and pulled her in close with a faint red aura emitting from his horn. He brought his hooves up to her cheek and lightly caressed it before puling her into a passionate kiss.

Once more their lips parted and they deeply kissed each other, letting their tongues explore each other's mouth once more as well.

'This is almost identical. He really did turn himself into a pony,' she thought to herself through closed eyes and passionate kissing, letting him gently massage her mouth and take her into blissful peace once more.

'and yet...' Luna pulled away and broke their kiss gently, while still being held by the Vampire turned Alicorn.

"Did you change forms just to please me?" she asked Marius.

"Well yes," he answered happily. "After all, you did say it was weird kissing someone without a muzzle, did you not?"

"I did...but," she spoke and looked to the ground with slight sorrow.

"Would it be aright if you changed back, Marius?" she asked barely above a whisper.

"You do not like this form?" he asked her with concern.

"I love it....it's just," she spoke but stopped as she saw a stream of blood pouring out of the Vampire's eye and wrapping around him in a cocoon. In seconds, the cocoon disappeared. Now Marius stood a full foot taller and back on two legs.

"It's just what, Luna?" he walked over and grabbed her hoof in both hands before lifting it to his lips and kissing it softly.

"You can tell me," he told her in a comforting tone.

Luna looked at him with a sad smile.

"It's just that I want you for you...Marius, the reason why I find myself caring for you is because of who you are. I don't want you to change for me. You understand who I am...and what I feel. The connection I feel is solely for the large, cloak wearing Vampire who stands before me. I want you, Marius....not an imitation, but the real you..." she spoke while looking into his eyes.

The Vampire stared at her in disbelief for a while, until a trickle of blood came running out of his right eye and down the side of his cheek. Luna became worried as she saw the Vampire start to chuckle and wipe his eyes dry.

"Are you alright, Marius?" she asked him.

The Vampire always seemed to have a sense of smugness, even in his genuine smiles, but the smile that he gave her at that moment had every emotion other than happiness stripped away.

"That's the first time I haven't felt like an actual monster in over fifteen thousand years," he quietly told her, as he began to see her eyes glisten with utter joy.

"Thank you...Luna," he spoke softly before wrapping his arms around her in a caring embrace.

He leaned down and pressed his cold lips once again to Luna's and wrapped his arms around her midsection. He then hoisted her into the air in both arms. The Princess emitted a small "Mmm," at the sudden lifting, and let the Vampire carry her to her bed with no objections whatsoever.

Marius gently placed her down on the still wrecked sheets and continued passionately kissing the mare who he was slowly feeling something for that he hadn't felt since before he died.

Love.

Warning: If you are too sensitive to read the details of physical intimacy between Marius and Luna, skip to the end of this scene.

The Princess found herself kissing her Vampiric counterpart for nearly an hour on her bed, all the while laying down next to him and enjoying his comforting embrace. Eventually the Vampire decided to get a bit playful, and kiss her cheek, eliciting the smallest of giggles from the Princess of the Night, while the Vampire King moved further and further down her cheek, then her jawline, and then eventually was lightly kissing her soft neck.

"Mmmm, Marius...what are you doiEEH..." she yelped as the Vampire ran along her neck with his fangs and gently pierced the top layer of her flesh, letting the smallest droplets of blood possible come out as he lapped them up with his tongue, matting Luna's fur and massaging the side of her neck in the process.

'Her blood tastes relatively bitter, while retaining a fair amount of sweetness... oddly enough, it tastes very similar to nougat.' Marius thought to himself.

"Ohhhh...myyyy...gosshhh. That feels...wonderful," dreamily spoke the Princess of the Night, who could not contain her utter satisfaction of letting the Vampire do what he wanted with her.

'It's better if I let him take the lead on this. He seems to know what he's doing.' the Princess assured herself.

After several minutes of the Vampire enjoying the tiniest drops of her blood while they were splayed out on her large and comfortable bed, Marius slowly rolled over on top of the Princess to get a better angle at her neck. She now lay under him with her wings open and splayed out across the bed. Marius pulled away from the spot were he was kissing and looked down into Luna's eyes. They were closed halfway and her mouth was in an "Oh" shape while she was lightly panting. He noticed that Luna began to rub his inner thigh with her hoof. Immediately, Luna began to blush and she looked slightly mortified.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know-"

"Shhh," he spoke softly to her, while placing his clawed finger against her lips.

"Before we go any further, I have to know...are you fine with making love to a member of a different species?" Marius asked.

Luna thought for a moment.

"I didn't really consider that. Are you fine with it Marius?" she asked him as he lay gently on top of her body, their faces inches away.

Marius let out a small chuckle.

"I'm dead, remember. Technically, I can't be upset by being with a member of a different species, when it's already considered Necrophilia," he told her.

Luna raised her eyebrow.

"What's Necrophilia?" she asked. Marius gave her a deadpan look in return.

"Are you fine with it, or not?" he asked in a monotone voice.

She gave a happy laugh under her breath.

"If it's with you, which it will be, I would be more than happy to say yes," she told him.

Marius gave her a smile.

"Very well," he spoke softly.

Marius pressed his lips to Luna's once more and let his clawed hand slowly rise up her leg to where her thigh was, Luna letting out a pleasurable moan in return as he lightly scratched back and forth on her thigh's fur. She moved her hoof as she was deeply kissing Marius to his inner thigh once more. At first, she shied away, but then Marius used his other hand to grab her hoof and lightly place it onto where his inner thighs met.

'It's alright.' he told her telepathically to quell her nervousness, all the while they never disconnected their lips.

She began to rub her hoof once more along his inner thigh, feeling him through his matching pants.

The Vampire returned the favor and took his fingers that were scratching Luna's thighs and move them upward towards where her thighs themselves connected, letting his claws lightly drag across her fur the whole way.

"Mmmm," Luna let out a petite moan into the Vampire's lips as his clawed fingers eventually reached their destination, and brushed her fur aside to start lightly rubbing the outside of her marehood. Her hoof intensified its movements before finding its way inside Marius' waistband. She began cupping her hoof and slowly started rubbing Marius' shaft to the rhythm of his fingers outside of her now wet and intensely hot sex. He rubbed his claws gently on her while he circled around her nub with the tips of his fingers. Slowly, they parted her outer lips.

"Mmmph," she let out a muffled squeak and temporarily stopped gyrating her hoof on Marius' now erect shaft when she felt the Vampire retract his claw into a normal nail before penetrating her with his middle finger. They finally broke their kiss when Luna pushed the back of her head into her pillow.

"Ugghnn..." Luna moaned out loud as she felt the Vampire's large finger inside her marehood, as she soon started bucking her hips forward involuntarily into the Vampire's palm. They continued wallowing in the heat of the moment for a while. Luna still continued to massage Marius' down below with her hoof, as he merely smiled a content smile at her while letting her dry hump his hand and moving his middle finger along the wet inside of her sex, back and forth. Luna panted heavily.

"Eager are we?" he spoke to her with a smile.

"....*pant*...shut...up...*pant*...Marius," was all she could speak through her heavy panting and continued moaning.

Marius removed his finger from her which caused her to stop bucking his hand. She looked at him with pleading eyes.

"What did you do thaAEEIIGH!" she screamed, as she didn't expect him to move his mouth down to her marehood and place a gentle kiss on her outer lips at an almost impossible to follow movement speed.

"I...am going...to kill you...after this is over," she told him. He lightly flicked her nub with his tongue which caused her to moan loudly and slam her hooves into her dark blue sheets. Her entire body was heated to the core with passion, and it screamed to be released. Marius circled the inside of her with his tongue, occasionally prodding and flicking her entrance. Eventually, after warming her up and her breathing intensified even more than it already was, Marius penetrated her with his lightly pinkish tongue.

"Nggghhh!" she moaned through her teeth as he pierced her insides with his tongue, sifting around and exploring her inner walls. She tasted very sweet, like a mixture of berries. It was nowhere near the musk of what a woman would have tasted like. Luna tasted near heavenly, and her sweet fragrance of lilac perfume helped to accentuate every little detail of her beauty. Luna ran her hooves through the hair of the Vampire who was going down on her.

"OhohohohOH...Marius...I'm going to..I'm...augh...augh...AUGGGHHH!" the Princess screamed as she climaxed while the Vampire continued to savor every ounce of her release.

He retracted his tongue and wiped his mouth and fangs off before crawling back up to Luna, who had her eyes closed and was panting even heavier than before. She lay, with wings still splayed and arms on top of them.

"That was so incredible..." she spoke through her pants.

Marius lovingly kissed her forehead just under the base of her horn, which made the Princess give a smile through her open-mouthed panting.

"I didn't think we were done yet," Marius spoke with a smile.

Luna turned to him and gave a sinister smile of her own.

Marius then climbed back on top of the mare he stood a full two and a half feet taller than. He snapped his fingers, and instantly his clothes evaporated into black mist, leaving him completely nude and lying on top of Luna, looking deeply into her beautiful light blue eyes, not wanting to be anywhere else, just as she did with him.

"That is a useful trick. Perhaps you would teach me to do that with my Royal vestments?" she asked sheepishly.

"Hehe. I shall think about it," Marius replied before moving his waist right above hers. To his annoyance, he was still too tall to even bend down and kiss her while they were making love.

"I have a better idea," Marius spoke.

He gently lifted the still wallowing and goofily smiling Luna and put her to the side, so he could lay down where she was.

"Now you can get on top. It will be much easier this way, that way you don't have me lumbering over you," he explained to her.

She looked into his eyes with mild concern.

"Marius...*pant*....I do need you to know something. We have never really...well," Luna looked down at the foot of her bed while she lay on her side.

Marius was baffled.

"Wait...You're over four thousand years old, and you are telling me that you are still a pure Virgin?" he asked in disbelief.

Luna looked offended as she lay on her side. She folded her arm upward and put her jaw on her hoof so she could speak to the Vampire with her head held up, while she laid her other arm across his deathly-pale and hairless chest.

"W...I have done things such as what we have done today, thank you very much! I do have some experience. It's just...I have never had actual intercourse," she spoke softly, embarrassed. Marius looked at her sad expression and found himself quickly annoyed.

"Stop being ashamed of it. Not having been with anyone sexually is not a horrid crime, by any means. In fact, it shows that you are very strong willed. If you do indeed wish to make love, however, I can assure you that you will find no gentler a touch than mine," he assured her. She looked into his deep red eyes as she traced circles on his chest with her hoof.

"Do you mean that?" she asked.

"I would never lie about things such as this Luna," he told her sincerely. She smiled before hoisting herself on top of the Vampire's uncovered chest and gave him a kiss on the lips.

"And I know you would never hurt me as well," she spoke before shimmying her waist downward, using her tail to scoot the sheets slowly out of the way. Her still damp marehood finally grazed the long surface of the Vampire's stiffness, which sent shivers up her spine. She lifted her plot up and hoisted herself over that way she could see it before she actually did anything with it.

"You didn't change your anatomy or anything of the sort...did you?" she asked with a gulp.

"Of course not," he spoke while putting his hands on her thighs as Luna was now sitting down just below him "Size is very irrelevant to me. I would never alter my manhood to make it look larger. Do you think you'll be fine?" he asked.

"Oh yes, I will. It's not monstrous in its size, but I guess I should have known it would still be pretty big considering how large you are," she told him.

"So you'll be fine, then?" he asked.

She smiled at his genuine concern, before lifting her waist up in the air and hovering over the Vampire. With a faint blue glow, she used a bit of magic to part the outside lips of her marehood and slowly began engulfing the head of Marius' stout and firm erection.

"Nnngghhh," she clenched through her breath as she slowly slid down further, inch by inch until she had engulfed his whole inside of her.

"See...*pant*...it's fine Marius. In...Mmmmnn...in fact it's more than...*pant*...fine. It's...*pant*...absolutely incredible," she spoke while rocking her hips slowly back and forth, letting her wings droop down to her sides. Marius' hands were wrapped gently around her waist line, using it to guide himself into her with each slow and tender thrust.

"Uuunnngghhhhh, please don't stop," she spoke to Marius who had been thrusting himself inside her ever so slowly, matching the rocking movements of her hips for a good twenty minutes.

She couldn't believe it. Here she was, with an individual she connected with unlike any other. He was inside of her, thrusting himself into her most intimate of places, gently and with care, as not to hurt her too much considering he was her first. They increased their speed together, getting faster and faster, bucking as one, joined in the most sacred of ways.

"I'm...I'm close again...don't stop," Luna spoke through her light yelps. Marius was also panting lightly this time around.

"I am as well," he told her through his own light panting, before quickening the pace at which he was thrusting himself into her.

"Marius...Ma...Ma....MaaAAUGGHH!" she screamed loudly as she released all over the Vampire's shaft, flaring her wings into the air as if she was raising the moon.

"Aaaahhh!" Marius yelled along with her as he himself was brought to climax, and found himself giving his very essence to the insides of the Princess, pumping his no-life carrying seed into Luna's marehood.

Luna started to pant and found that she had sweat all over the fur on her face, and several strands of her glistening Azure mane were stuck on her cheeks and nose. She pulled herself off of Marius' semi-erect shaft (reluctantly) and slumped next to the panting Vampire. She was in utter, blissful exhaustion and had the widest smile possible. She snuggled over next to the Vampire who wrapped his right arm around her and held her close under the sheets.

"Marius, I feel like I've known you my whole life," she spoke to him. He looked down at her as she shifted her head to look upward to look at him.

"I feel like you have been watching my night for centuries, even while I was in the moon, waiting...wanting to enjoy its beauty. You were all the while watching me with a content smile," she spoke.

He looked her dead in the eye.

"I was, Luna. The reason why you understand my sorrow and the reason why you connect with me so well, is that we ARE meant to be close to each other," he told her before leaning down and giving her a gentle kiss on her lips.

"Thank you for your wonderful night, Luna. I would never have made it through the many harsh centuries of my past without your moon and stars...waiting for someone to make them beautiful again," he spoke to her.

She smiled and plopped her head back down on his chest.

"I think I am in love with you," spoke the Princess of the Night.

There was silence in the room for a bit.

"I don't think you are alone in that, Luna," Marius answered just above a whisper, which prompted her to smile and let out a blissful sigh, the air of which rolled down the Vampire's chest.

Marius smirked down at her.

"So, are you ready for some more?" he asked.

Luna's eyes shot open.

"YES MARIUS! YES! PLEASE DON'T STOP!"

"AIIIEGHH!" Celestia screamed and flung her head up, launching several doughnuts off the top of her head in an ark.

The Princess of the Day collected her thoughts as quickly as possible, not noticing the four pastries left on her horn.

'That was Luna!' her mind yelled at her.

Instantly, she shot out of bed, blasted the door open with telekinesis, and galloped down the hallway. Eventually she reached the source of the continued screaming, which was Luna's door.

The heavily blushing guards saw the Princess of the Day and their eyes went wide with horror.

Stalwart turned to Stonewing.

"I hear getting fired isn't too bad. We can work as horseshoe polishers," he told his friend

*SLAM!* Celestia bucked Luna's double doors open and she became more mortified than she had in her entire life.

"YES, MY LOVE! HARDER! BITE ME! HARDER!" screamed her sister in the Royal Canterlot Voice, who was being pressed up against her ceiling and being rather forcefully given what makes most mares blush.

Celestia couldn't say anything due to her mouth being wide from from shock. Marius however, instantly noticed the extra heartbeat in the room, and disconnected with the Princess of the Night, letting her fall gently back into her bed, wondering why he stopped. Then she turned her head to the right and saw her sister standing in her doorway with a look of pure horror and four doughnuts still on her horn.

"Sister! Didst thou forget how to knock?!" Luna screamed, furious at her sister barging in, while the still very naked Marius landed on his feet and quickly folded his large bat wings. Celestia turned her head to look at Marius, mouth still agape and pupils shrunken to pinpricks.

"Okay...I can explain everything," Marius spoke to Celestia cautiously while holding out his hands to indicate for her to stay calm. He then pointed a finger at Luna, who was still panting on the bed, furious that she was interrupted.

"She seduced me."