The knocking had gone on for some time now, and Twilight had merely stood there, staring at the door, frozen like a statue. Her friends, naturally, were concerned with her being this way. Not that they blamed her for it however. After all, if any of then were in her position, chances are that they'd be hesitant to speak to whoever was out there too. Twilight herself, at this point, counted the moments, perhaps hoping that, if she waited long enough, then whoever was out there would simply go away. But, she knew in her heart that she was not the kind of mare that would be so rude as to just ignore such a person. Maybe whoever was there would be somepony who'd annoy her. Or maybe he wouldn't. She didn't know. And, in some ways, it was that not knowing that got on her nerves the most in this. She let out a sigh, showing clear discomfort in all of this, but, moments afterwards, looked to her left when she saw that Spike had walked alongside her. The young dragon gave her an encouraging look, as if to make her feel better. Him being here with her did accomplish that aim somewhat, as she afforded him a small smile. In time, she turned to the door once more, raised a hoof, and then promptly opened it, offering a greeting to the one beyond.

"Welcome."

But, her expression became one of surprise, as the one before her was quite unlike anypony else she'd seen so far. First and foremost, there was the fact that the male standing there was not, technically, a pony at all. With unique-looking armour, a darker colouring, and strange bat-like wings, Twilight recognised him immediately as a thestral, or "bat-pony" as many liked to call them. This rare breed of Equestrian was most notable as being the personal guard of Princess Luna. In fact, Twilight was certain that the one standing there now was one of the very stallions used to pull Luna’s chariot during her visit to Ponyville on Nightmare Night some years back. However, this one was, for some reason, wearing a pair of sunglasses. To make himself seem more impressive perhaps? Regardless, Twilight put on a smile for his benefit, stepping aside to let him in.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr...?"

The stallion walked past her and into the palace, wherein the other mares took a nervous step backwards at seeing him. But, he didn't notice this, instead turning and looking to Twilight, taking off his sunglasses and revealing his dragon-like eyes in doing so.

"It's Vlad. Sir Vlad of the lunar guard. And thank you for inviting me in, princess. It was far too bright out there for my liking."

That explained the sunglasses. Thestrals did prefer darker environments. The sunlight would have mostly likely been quite difficult for him.

"So...Vlad? I assume you're here about the whole marriage thing?"

The stallion nodded at that.

"Indeed. When I heard that a mare as impressive as you was on the look-out for a mate, I decided I should at least try to throw my hat into the ring."

Twilight opened her mouth to respond, only to be interrupted when, as expected, Pinkie spoke up.

"But you're not wearing a hat, silly!"

Naturally, the stallion looked to her with confusion, seeing her smile widely in an oblivious manner.

"Um...okay. Anyway. I trust you know of the grand history of the royal guard and how dutiful we can be, solar or lunar. Choose a stallion from among either one of us, and I guarantee you that we will stand by you and..."

But, he was halted when Twilight raised a hoof.

"Look...Vlad...you're not the first guard to come to me. Believe me when I say that I've heard this before. I know the guard are impressive, but I want to know about you, not what you've pledged yourself to."

Although taken aback somewhat, Vlad soon composed himself somewhat.

"Well...I was born in Roneighnia and came to Canterlot to join the guard as soon as I was old enough..."

"Do you drink blood?"

The sudden question from beyond was unexpected for both Vlad and Twilight, and they turned to see that it was Rainbow who had spoken up. Naturally, this remark earned her a swift hoof to the back of her head by Rarity, who had an indignant look on her face.

"Rainbow! That is most impolite!"

But, rather than seem offended, Vlad simply let out a hearty laugh.

"Oh, it's no bother. In truth. I've been trying to cut back on the blood a lot lately. Doctor says it's no good for my cholesterol."

Immediately, all mares turned to him with faces as white as a sheet, with Twilight’s voice being a combination of both meek and fearful.

"Um...pardon?"

But Vlad just kept on smiling.

"Indeed, I much prefer that new artificial blood stuff they've got going these days. A bit pricey for my liking, but it's supposed to be good for you, so who am I to complain?"

Then, before anypony else could say anything, he turned to Twilight with an undeniably sultry look.

"I assure you, princess, if you were to wed me, one bite and we could prowl the night skies together. A lord and lady of the night, sending chills down the spines of anypony who saw us. What say you?"

As one might expect in this situation, his words had left her looking somewhat paralysed. When she finally did speak, it was in hushed and clearly nervous tone.

"Um...thank you for your visit, Mr Vlad, but I just remembered I...er...left the stove on! Yeah, that's it! So I'm afraid we'll have to cut this meeting short. Don't call us, we'll call you and...all that good stuff."

There was a pause for a moment as Vlad considered this, which eventually led to him giving a small smile and simply bowing to the young princess. Twilight, waving him goodbye, watched him nervously as he left, keeping her eyes on him until the last possible moment, after which, she bolted for the doors, shutting them tightly and using her magic to lock them as much as possible. After her efforts, she panted heavily, turning to Spike with terror in her eyes.

"Spike? Remind me to secure all windows before we sleep tonight."

Laughter rang throughout the chambers of Princess Luna, as she and Vlad both sat together, sipping tea in comfort.

"Blood? Transformations via biting? Really?!" she commented.

A chuckle escaped the stallion before he nodded in response.

"Indeed, princess. I swear, the younger generation will believe anything these days."

Luna wiped a tear away from her eye after her laughter finally died down, letting out a sigh soon afterwards.

"Oh dear, what I would have given to see the look on Twilight's face when she heard all that."

Vlad raised an eyebrow slightly.

"You don't think...your royal sister would be upset at us making light of this situation...do you?"

But Luna merely scoffed in response.

"If Tia can put Twilight in this mess to begin with, she's hardly one to complain about a jest like this."

"A jest like what, little sister?"

Immediately, both Luna and Vlad froze at the newly-arrived voice, turning slowly to find, as expected, that Celestia herself was now standing in the doorway of the chamber, looking to them both with a disapproving frown. In the end, Luna, after finishing her tea, simply gave her older sister a nervous smile.

"Um...funny story, actually."