Dark Merlot

Merlot is thousands of years old (possibly predating even Celestia and Luna) and he's part of a prestigious family of vampire batponies.  However, few ponies know about his existence since vampire batponies tend to keep to themselves; they typically only form relationships with other members of their society.  Even by these standards, Merlot is considered to be reclusive--he often hides away in his library, sometimes not coming out for years at a time.

At least, that was before he met Wedding Belle.  Through an odd twist of events, Merlot ends up taking Belle (quite literally) under his wing, and the two have become a father-daughter found family.

• an 'eternal mentor figure' type who isn't quite as put together as he looks
• never got out of Equestria's steampunk era
• single dad energy
• doesn't really care for other vampire batponies very much

• reading about history, poetry, philosophy
• formal clothing
• wine, tea, and fruit juice
• his daughter Belle

I think of him as really fitting that one tumblr post (from kayvsworld) where all of his personal letters, documents, etc. keep ending up in museums.

his cm stands for his family’s legacy, wealth, and pride

vampire batponies = similar to vampire fruit bats in the show?

to go back to pierrot if lost connection