Chapter Three

A hand clamped down on Luna's muzzle. Not particularly painful or forceful, but it was in a way that someone would do to another person by putting a finger to their mouth to shush them. Luna blinked, looking up and narrowing her eyes lightly. The pale woman chuckled, floating a foot off the ground with her knees bent back, "Just relax girl, it's all fine. Don't worry I'm not gonna do nothing."

Luna felt a growl come from herself, but with the little patience she had at the moment, she said, "If thy didn't want to cause some sort of malcontent then you wouldn't have attacked us and the portal with a tackle."

Opening her mouth to retort, but deciding to stay silent she simply grinned widely, leaning downwards and in Luna's face, gently bopping her nose. At this Luna's horn lit up to grab hold of the other woman and force her into the bed.

With a more decisive and demanding demeanor, Luna told rather than asked, "You shall tell us what thy name and intent be, knave."

Obviously not taking the Lunar Princess very seriously, the woman responded, "Marceline, and fun." The magical grip tightened as Luna narrowed her eyes. Just as that happened and Marceline grunted lightly, the door opened by a golden aura.

Clearing her throat, Celestia stepped into the room and looked over the situation in about three seconds. One, her Sister, Luna, was terribly annoyed and tired. Two, there was a strange, pale creature on the bed that seemed to be some kind of alien-like woman, and three, Luna was seemingly holding her body ransom.

Looking over to her sister with a rather terrifying calm expression, as little as it effected Luna nowadays, she asked, "Sister, would you kindly let go of this woman."

She seemed aghast, and did a double take between the two, "But she-"

Celestia cut her off instantly, "Would. You. Kindly. Let her go." With her tone slightly darkened, Luna decided she didn't want to embarrass either of them in front of their guest.

As soon as her magical aura stopped wrapping around Marceline very tightly, she shot up and let out a cackle, sighing and hanging upside down in front of Celestia, "Thanks Miss, what ever can I do to repay you?"

With a slight uneasiness she said, "Er, nothing, ma'am. I simply wish to know your name so we can converse better."

Marceline let another grin slip as she said, "The name's Marceline, I'm the Vampire Queen." As she said this, Luna groaned, her neck lowering as her eyes were half lidded with annoyance. Celestia looked over curiously, "Then why were you fighting with Luna? Practically you're sisters."

Luna let a quiet growl rise, "No, vampires are all fine and well but there's nothing similar. At all."

Sighing heavily, Celestia said, "My name is Celestia. As I said, my Sister here is Luna. I'm the Princess of the Sun, though many try more regal names, like regent. My Sister is the opposite as being the Princess of the Night..."

Stepping over quickly, Luna was in front of Celestia's face as soon as she finished her sentence, "Tia thou should stop giving this miscreant woman Marceline all about us!"

With a slight gasp, Celestia held back the urge to scold her sister, mostly, "Luna! You are being extremely childish. Please, ignore what she says at the moment she seems extremely irritable. It's especially annoying as you are treating your invited guest in such a terrible way."

Luna nearly yelled but, with a moment of reconciliation, she said, "...She isn't our invited guest she followed us through the-"

Marceline hopped in between the two, dangerously close to Luna with made her irritated state grow ever more great, "Yeah Luna, I mean come on you're the one who invited me here. It's the least you can do to be more accommodating." As Marceline talked her tone turned more realistic and less manufactured, it was difficult to understand and trust beforehand as it was completely obvious she was lying, but at this point her tone was sincere.

With a disapproving stare, Celestia stared at Luna. It wasn't painful or mean, not to mention it wasn't supposed to be anything but slightly playful, but Luna got the message. With a disgruntled grumble she said, "Marceline, We would be happy to make correct accommodations for thy living space while thou visits..."

Standing on her own balcony, Luna was preparing to lower the moon so her Sister could raise the sun, and Marceline was laughing and occasionally tuning her instrument. For all Luna could care, she could fly off. But, the fact that Marceline came from a different world, or possibly dimension itself, could cause many problems, so she had to get her back to the other world of Ooo.

With a sigh she tore herself away, albeit slowly, from the outside world and focused on her inside. Her magic began to build throughout her body and the aura spread around her form. The blue outline slowly seeped to her fur, and at this point it made her eyes open with white filling them. The full release of her magic was at hand, and the Princess of the Night then forced herself forward in the process.

At this point, the magic had become even more a part of her, it was almost her very being. The reaction, however, caused an out of body experience. With practiced ease she made her way across the Lunar plane, the stars lining the sky and shining moonlight from all around.

As her hooves clopped noisily, she eventually stopped. Taking a final look around, it was time to leave this sort of save haven. With her horn lighting up with a fairly brighter blue than what it would regularly be, the scene slowly changed, the stars and moon hanging in the sky heading to the horizon.

And, on her Sister's part, the sky began to turn red and orange, all the brilliant colors of sunrise. As soon as the Sun was in place, Luna nodded and turned back to where she came. Though she could leave at any time, an excuse was lovely to use, considering Luna loved being here. It was so calm and serene, Luna may have stayed here if she had a choice. And some friends, of course.

Finally activating her powers once more, she began to drag herself back to the earthly realm of Equestria. Finally, her body was let down, the show abruptly ending. What felt like perhaps an hour or longer was only a minute, and it left her feeling exhausted. With her putting the Moon to rest, as it would never leave her be until it was, she collapsed in her bed.

A voice then roused her slightly, "Oh Luuuna...where am I supposed to sleep? I'm tired too ya know."

Sighing, and mumbling, she managed to say, "Just get in the bed, Marceline..."

Within a few seconds the covers shifted, and a cold presence took a place beside Luna. Deciding to not care about it, her eyes remained shut and her head was still against the pillow. Within a minute she had passed out into the pillow, continuously mumbling like always.

Again, the voice of Marceline disturbed her. It must have been at least nine hours, as that was the only time she could almost ever wake up. That is, without force. Last time somepony had woken her with any kind of force, well, it was quite the mess to clean up. They had all the food they had brought to Luna splattered on the wall and themselves, as well as the windows being shattered.

However, a gentle nudge into her shoulder made her mumble something about five more minutes, but apparently Marceline would have none of it. She pressed an arm around her and did a makeshift hug. Continuing to grumble, annoyed, but eventually simply relaxed against her. Whatever the cause, it was simply the most comfortable position at the moment.

A chuckle that was right next to her ear, however, made it twitch. Another one, followed by the hot breath breathing over her ear said, "Oh Lunies, it's time to get up..."

After hearing the ridiculous pet name, Luna finally decided it may be indeed time to get up. Also, the feeling on her twitching ear and the slight blush that crept onto her cheeks wasn't exactly helping the matter. Yawning, she scratched her chest and neck, her wings fluffing out their feathers, "Hm...yes, yes, We're getting up."

Her eyes opened slowly and groggily, the light marks under her eyes telling the tale of obvious exhaustion. She really did not want to move whatsoever, but she didn't trust the person sleeping next to her. Standing up, Luna fully outstretched her wings, leaning so she could crack her back.

Another yawn left her before she finally looked about. The sun was going down slowly, and she almost thanked Marceline for waking her up before it was time. Leaving to the balcony, she uttered a simple, "Thank you."

As she stepped onto the decorative floor of the balcony, Luna was reminded of the cold tiles. Sighing internally, she raised her head up, her eyes closing as the magic slowly began to focus in and around her horn. At this point the Sun had already lowered past the horizon, or mostly. In either case, the Moon was becoming impatient with Luna. A tug on her magical essence was all Luna needed to know this.

With a few more minutes of concentration, the same process as beforehand began happening, her body gaining an ethereal glow as she entered the Lunar Plane. A calm swept over her and she remembered what it was like to be so calm. The feeling in of itself was an amazing load off of her shoulders. However, with her body hanging in midair, and her consciousness walking through the mist covered plane, Luna had only some time before it would be too long and she could worry somepony.

A wave of her horn and the magic was drawn from the Moon to call upon it's power. Many believed the Moon and Sun were just objects the Princesses controlled, when it was more like they were equals in a few ways. Though the Sun and Moon were, more or less, beings. Most of them was comprised of energy, which Luna and Tia used to raise and lower them. Just as with the Sisters, the Sun and Moon had a sort of sibling connection, and needed balance, lest the world fall into a dark descent.

Shaking her head a bit, Luna disbanded such thoughts, as they again brought the weight of a world and country on her shoulders. Opening her eyes, she watched as the moon slowly rose above the horizon and slowly make it's ascent to the sky. The stars began showing beyond the Moon, light in the area being dominated by the gentle blue glow.

Finally, she focused her magic once more as it forced her mind back into the body of the corresponding lunar mare. As soon as she was back she dropped down, sighing. Walking back into the room she noticed a few things. One of them was that the Marceline girl was playing an instrument. It looked like a guitar that was double edged, like a battleaxe.

This thought brought shivers and unwanted thoughts from the time that Equestria had need of those. The blood spilled and the things that the ponies would do in the name of "justice" or the Princesses, it was a very dark time indeed. The unification of Equestria wasn't as much of a fairy tale as some may have the fillies and colts believe.

Tossing the thought as far back in her mind as she could, Luna slowly walked up and sat, turning her head to the side lightly as Marceline started to play. It wasn't particularly fast, and it didn't have any vocals. It was slow spinning and built up to nothing. As much as Luna had it out for Marceline, she had to admit, the girl had talent in this category.

Not that it mattered. She'd have to return back to the other world tonight, "Ahem, Marceline?"

Marceline turned around with another devilish grin, slowing to a stop on her music, "Oh, hey. How's it goin?"

She opened her mouth to answer before closing it and brought a hoof to her mouth. What was it again? Ah, yes.

Clearing her throat she said, "It is fairing well. And I trust you are doing well?"

A nod was her only answer from Marceline, and Luna then said, "We must inform you that thou must be leaving this night. We will gather the materials needed, it shall only be a bit of time, perhaps an hour if we are slow or decide on flying."

Something along the lines of a look of confusion, Marceline asked, "So soon? I dunno, I wanted to hangout at least until sunrise."

Sighing, like she always would in a difficult decision, Luna retorted, "Yes, well, be that as it may you must have some sort of responsibilities back where you came from, not to mention others waiting for thy company. More than anything there's little you could do here.If you must do something, simply follow me while I go to get the items needed."

Marceline scrunched her face up a bit before nodding, strapping the guitar to her back. Luna stepped out onto the balcony, levitating her regalia over and lifting her hooves one by one to let it slip on, "You can fly, correct?"

She nodded, and Luna let a small smile slip on her face. Perfect.

Jumping off the balcony, she let the wind beat her face for a moment before she spread her wings, gliding only ten feet off the ground and onward. A mighty flap was all it took for her to raise a fair distance upwards. Marceline was behind her, floating lazily along with her.

A silence settled comfortable between the two. It wasn't mandatory, but it wasn't necessarily awkward. The two didn't have much to speak about, nothing that Marceline was interested in at least. In a few minutes they had neared the Everfree and Luna spoke quickly, "Marceline, I advise heavily that you stay close to me. More over, don't attack any of the creatures, simply tell me and I'll be able to arrange a quick speed."

Nodding in agreement, Marceline then dove down into the trees. Luna groaned in annoyance, giving a flap of her wings to stop herself midair. Little flaps were heard as Luna slowly lowered herself into the Everfree. Marceline was leaning against a tree, smiling, just as always, "Well come on Lunies, let's get whatever we need then."

It had been at least a half hour of another silence with occasional small snippets of a nonexistent conversation. Mostly doing of what they needed and how long it would take to use it. In that time, Luna had been tracking down a Manticore. It was, strangely enough, moving towards Ponyville. Ending up on the end of the forest, Luna saw that it was sitting behind Twilight's friend's house. Fluttershy, that was her name.

A panic gripped her as she slowly made her way over, creeping as silently as she could. Marceline took to floating above her, the normally rakish girl no longer making sarcastic comments on the situation and seemingly serious. Even she could understand the potential problems.

Luna looked it over once she was close enough, slowly reaching and plucking out a few hairs of it's mane. A grumble and low roar was heard from the sleeping beast, only for it to be silenced once more. Hard sleepers would save the day eventually, and Luna was thankful that this creature was so tired. Deciding it was best to warn Fluttershy, Luna walked around the building and motioned for Marceline to wait in the back.

Raising a metal clad hoof to the door, she knocked thrice, setting it back down with a rather loud clop sound. Within a few moments, the timid mare had opened the door, looking tired as ever. However, as soon as she saw the Princess standing in front of her door, she sputtered, then backed up a bit, looking downwards and not daring to look up to her hard eyes.

Rubbing her forehead with slight annoyance due to the half bow half retreat, Luna said, "Fluttershy, thou would be more accommodating if you would listen for a moment before treating me as if we weren't your friend."

Fluttershy then stopped her movements and looked up, speaking quietly, as always, "Um, I'm sorry Princess, if you...what do you want again?"

She then remembered the dangerous beast around the back, her own eyes widening a bit as she said, "We simply wished to inform you there was a Manticore sleeping behind your home..."

A giggle resounded from the yellow Pegasus as she responded, "Oh, that's Fluffy. He's a real cutie, don't worry. I'm fine. Have a-" A yawn interrupted her sentence, "-nice night Luna."

Nodding, though still confused, Luna bid her farewell and walked back around the corner, seeing Marceline sitting in the grass and seemingly tuning her guitar. She walked over and nudged Marceline with a hoof to tell her 'It's time to go', and she followed behind Luna. However, Luna instead turned around and headed around town, towards the Library.

It took a mere five minutes to get there, and as they did, Luna looked over her shoulder at Marceline who, again, was floating lazily behind her. At that moment, Luna noticed that the moonlight made the red guitar in her hands and the mostly casual outfit she wore gain a sort of shine to it. The different colors now present were quite the sight, it was like looking across a large ocean during the night.

Perhaps it wasn't beautiful, but it was still fairly surprising. Shrugging the thought off herself, Luna knew that thinking in such ways wasn't proper of a Princess.

Raising a hoof to knock on the Library door, it was soon answered by a tired Spike. He looked over Luna, then turned around, then back to Luna. He sighed, calling out into the Library, "Twilight, Luna's come to visit for some reason..."

He turned away to walk upstairs to Twilight's bedroom and Luna, as well as Marceline, let themselves in and closed the door behind themselves. Thankfully most of the town was asleep, so they didn't need to worry about questions with Marceline.

They both sat down, on the same couch but straying a good distance away from each other. After five minutes passed a somewhat surprised, but mostly worried Twilight came rushing down the stairs in a purple blur, "What is it? Did something happen? I wasn-wasn't expecting you over tonight Prince-"

Her words stopped dead in their tracks as Twilight looked on to the strange creature sitting next to Luna. Marceline smiled, waved her hand a bit and said, "Hey, what's goin' on."

Author's Note

Ha ha, man, I hope I didn't wait too long. Procrastination is a bitch, don't ya think?

Most of the adventure stuff will be going on a bit later, like the romance. For the most part I'm just shoving exposition down your throats so I can get headcanons and other such things out there.

Enjoy, I'll try to write the next chapter within a few days.