My mind kept shifting in and out, but vaguely heard muffled voices. “By Tartarus, it looks like he twas thrown in a volcano! He has burns everywhere and his armor’s ring had to be pried out of the earth!” one of the voices stated.

“I just told him the circle needed more power. I never imagined he would use himself as a channeling focus! This is all my fault. The orchard has been restored, but it may have cost him his life,” another voice lamented right before it started breaking from sobs.

“There has to be something we can do! His book of shadows! There must be something in there that can help!” a third voice said in a panic.

“We do not know, Twilight. He is the only one that is able to open it. Even then I am not sure if we could locate anything of use,” a voice replied.

"We have to try something!" a voice responded.

The voices then started to fade as I lost consciousness again. But after an unknown amount of time my mind shifted half-awake again. “We’ve been at this for hours and it won’t open! I’ve tried every dispel I know!” a voice mourned.

“Tis a blood seal Twilight, a very old type of magic. Star Swirl the Bearded made use of them all the time. The fool must have studied his methods as they were always frustratingly secure. I have seen him open it countless times. How did he…wait his blood! All we require is a drop of it!” another voice quickly stated before I felt a dull cut on my left foreleg.

“Careful Luna, he has already lost so much blood already and his vampiric healing is barely functioning,” a voice warned.

“Why is this damned tome not opening?! I have already given it several drops of his blood!” an angry voice bellowed.

“Luna stop, you are only going to make this worse. The only thing we can do now is wait. He’s the only one that can somehow speed healing. We have done all we can,” a voice stated.

“There must be something we can do Celestia! He’s going to die!” a panicked voice replied.

“I’m very sorry Twilight, but there’s nothing more we can do. We’ll just have to wait and hope his vampiric healing will save him,” a voice responded. I then heard open weeping next to me as my mind faded out again and darkness took me once more.

Then when more unknown amounts of time had passed I had regained consciousness again. This time however I was able to partially open my eyes but only just. And though my vision was hazy and unfocused, I appeared to be in Twilight’s room and covered in bandages. Then after several minutes more I fought my waning sight to focus on something to my right. It had appeared to be Twilight and she was sitting in a chair next to the bed. She also seemed to be unarmored and asleep while clutching my tome to her chest with her forelegs. Her closed eyes looked tired and her face was stained from tears. Her forelegs also had bandages wrapped around them though they looked to have been hastily put back on several times. I was puzzled and worried from the sight of such bandages until I painfully swallowed and realized my mouth faintly tasted like her arcane charged blood. For she must have been attempting to revive me for who knows how long.

It was a true kindness that she was trying to aid me and I would have gladly like to thank her, but I could hardly move at that moment. Truly a situation I needed to rectify if ever there was one. So after taking a few painful breaths, I managed to look around and I had soon spotted my scythe leaning against the bed to the left of me. A glimmer of hope sparked in my mind at the sight of it. And with flickering will I gritted my teeth and with great pain and effort I reached with my left foreleg and touched my weapon. My eyes and horn soon flared with light blue flames before I searched myself internally.

In turn in my initial analysis, I discovered I still had a small amount of stored life force after the apple orchard ritual but not much. Then as I clenched my teeth harder and scanned myself further with my mind I also discovered that almost everything in my body was either burnt, damaged or both, including my internal organs. But like I had done so many times before, I slowly gathered my power and set forth on trying to heal my broken body.

Firstly I began with my nervous and circulatory systems, figuring they were the most important at the time. The experience however from doing this was horrid to say the least. Every nerve in my body screamed in agony as I pieced them back together. My focus had even waned multiple times when the terrible pain kept flaring in waves. And such things were only made worse for such pain also forced me to work at a grueling pace to prevent giving myself cardiac arrest or at the very least serious internal bleeding.

But eventually after restoring my nervous system and blood flow I began to painfully heal my internal organs one at a time. And again I had to work slowly but I was lucky at least this time as it caused most of my internal bleeding risks to fade away. My breathing had also become steadier and easier to maintain. But in a cruel twist of fate in all this my stomach had also woken up with a vengeance. And it made no illusions that my efforts were causing me to become increasingly hungry, but I did my best to push that primal need aside as I continued to work.

And so my almost completely ruined skeletal system was next. Per usual, just like the rest of my body, everything was either burnt, broken or both. But with little idea on where to start in this mess of charred calcium I decided to begin with my rib cage to at least ease my breathing further. Then I healed my skull and to my great joy it helped clear my mind and made focusing easier. In turn it took an hour to piece the rest of my bones back together.

Then after several more hours of work I finally finished healing my damaged muscles and skin. And with the last of my efforts I regrew my charred fur and mane. The process unfortunately had burnt through almost all of my stored life force, but at the very least I was whole again. However, my feeling of contentment was dulled by the fact that my body felt as if an Ursa Major sat on it.

But regardless of my body protesting I soon sat up and carefully cut my bandages off myself with my scythe. Then when I finished that I noticed the floor was littered with empty blood bags when my bandages fell to join them. ‘How long have I been out’ I spoke mentally and groaned. But to my great fortune in my viewing of the floor I had managed to find one blood bag that remained unopened.

So with little delay I focused my magic and levitated it to me. I then hesitated only for but a moment to read the label and had sighed in relief when the name was not "Pinkie Pie" before drinking it down. It ultimately did little to curve my hunger but it would have to do for now.

Then after summoning my will and with great determination I lifted myself on to my newly healed legs. I had wobbled a little, but managed to gain some balance back. I then grabbed my armor’s ring, separated it, and reattached it to my neck. It seemed I was lucky that the enchantments on it were still intact even after all that heat. However when my armor soon flowed back over my body I had to quickly deactivate the suppression field when the strain on my body became too much. After that I lowered my helm, unsummoned my scythe, and walked over to Twilight.

And to put it mildly she was a mess. Her normally well brushed mane was unkempt and her body looked ragged and thin. I also had gotten a closer look at the bloody bandages on her forelegs and it was now confirmed that she must have been indeed trying to feed me her blood in an effort to heal me. I was not sure if it helped, but again the thought of her trying warmed my heart.

But after scanning her over a little bit and with some effort at moving my stiff body, I managed to sit down in front of her. I then leaned close to her face, and gently kissed her on the lips. Her tired eyes soon slowly opened in response as fresh red tears began to flow forth. She then dropped my tome on the ground and hugged me while crying. “They said you may never wake up again, but I didn’t believe them,” she sobbed.

“I-I will never be able to thank you enough for watching over me. I do not know what to say as it appears our roles had indeed switched. However...p-please allow me to return at least a small amount of your aid,” I stated in a ragged voice. I then summoned my scythe and tilted her head up to her right with my right forehoof. “I apologize, but this will only hurt for a moment,” I stated. She then closed her eyes tight and clenched her teeth as I bit down on her neck. After that I used the minute amount of stored life force that I still had left in my body and channeled it through my fangs into her body.

A small whimpered had soon left her lips as I healed her leg wounds. I had also repaired some minor internal damage probably due to her malnourishment. And then with the last ounce of my remaining stored life force, I pulled my fangs out of her neck and healed her neck wound. But that was the end of it as there was no more energy left to draw from causing my body to feel weaker than before. However it was all worth it in the end after she hugged me again with some of her restored strength though it admittedly strained my stiff body.

Silence then reigned for a few seconds while I had gathered my thoughts and courage. For if there was ever was a time to say what I was about to state, it was now. And so while she still held me, I lifted my head a little bit and whispered into her right ear, “There is...something…I wish to say. I may never get the chance to say this again. It may also be completely out of line, but Twilight-” the words were difficult to say “-I…love you.”

And upon saying such a thing time began to crawl to a near stop as I awaited her response. But then as if an enormous weight had lifted off of me, she squeezed me tighter and replied “I...love you too, Blood Moon.”

The grip on my scythe let go and it clattered to the ground. I then wrapped my front legs around her and held her tight as red tears came out of my eyes. I had never felt this happy in over a century. So much mental pain and loneliness flowed out of me. It had been so long and I had been so emotionally alone for so many years. And so we had wept in each other’s embrace. Then after a few moments I lowered my armor all the way and laid her on the bed. I then got on top of her and we passionately kissed each other. She soon pulled me closer and I felt our bodies move in a steady rhythm. And after we both came together, we then fell asleep in each other’s loving embrace.

The rest that followed was truly welcomed, but it unfortunately only lasted a few hours before hunger woke us up. As such I got up, turned my suppression field back on, and moved the curtains by the window to check what time of day it was. And with some satisfaction it had appeared that the sun had just set. The small smile I gained from this fact however was short lived when both our stomachs had continued to protest. But to my dismay, I came to discover all of the blood bags in the room were empty, along with all three of my blood cylinders. Needless to say I quickly helped Twilight get out of bed and she re-armored after I did.

“Where are we going?” She questioned.

“We are going into the Everfree forest before we both starve to death,” I replied.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? It’s almost night time,” she inquired.

“Twilight, we are beings of the night, remember? The night is when we thrive,” I responded with a sly grin.

She laughed nervously and stated “Oh…yeah…heh heh ehhh.”

So after that we quietly trotted our way to the edge of the Everfree forest continuously fueled by our ever growing hungers. But before we fully entered I had begun to smell the air for signs of life. And with great luck it was truly teeming with the scents of all sorts of creatures. But as much as the scents were enjoyable I did not smell for too long given it had only made me far hungrier than I already was. In turn I soon glanced over at Twilight and saw her mouth partially open and salivating at the smell as well. As such the only thing I had stated after that was “We hunt,” while grinning before we slowly crept through the forest.

Now I had indeed figured we would need our full strength, so I had us turn off our suppression fields and use our armor to muffle our hoofsteps. I then closed my eyes, sniffed the air and listened. And after a few seconds I heard a faint heartbeat. I soon swiveled my ears around in response and located what I was searching for.

“There is a deer nearby, this way,” I whispered while pointing. And in turn I had us get closer to the ground as we closed in on our prey. Then as the creature’s heartbeat slowly grew stronger in my ears I had begun to analyze it some more. For it appeared that the heartbeat was slow and steady which meant we had not been noticed yet. So with careful continued movements I scanned the dark until I spotted it.

It was a large buck and it was fortunately facing the opposite direction. So I whispered for Twilight to stay where she was as I got lower to the ground. I then crept up behind it with practiced movements. But without warning it suddenly lifted its head and I heard its heartbeat quicken. I froze in response as the buck’s eyes scanned the forest in front of it. However after a few moments its heartbeat returned to normal and it bent down to chew at the forest vegetation some more.

Then with practiced skill I continued to use steady and quiet movements as I skulked up behind the creature. And when I was almost right next to it, I closed my eyes and thought, ‘I am very sorry noble creature, but we are very hungry and we require your blood.’ I then opened my eyes and reached my front legs forward. And in one fluid movement I grabbed the buck’s back legs and hamstrung both of them with my teeth.

The creature shrieked in terror and tried to run only to collapse from its inoperable hind legs. It then swung its antlers at me, but they just harmlessly scraped across the front of my armor. Right after that I dove in front of it, grabbed its left antler with my right forehoof and swung my left forehoof with all my might. My hoof smashed it square in the forehead and knocked it unconscious. And then as its body collapsed to the ground I relaxed my muscles and motioned to Twilight to come over.

“Y-you made that look so easy,' She whispered to me while gazing at the deer.

I just smiled and replied, “Decades of practice will do that. You get first bite,” as I lifted the deer onto a nearby rock to elevate it.

She in turn looked quite bewildered before she said, “I…I don’t know what to do.”

I merely chuckled in response and stated, “Okay, then watch me and I will show you.”

I then tilted the deer’s head up exposing its neck as I lowered my helm. I then closed my eyes, opened my mouth, and bit down. The blood that came forth was warm and it had a pleasing taste as it flowed over my tongue and down my throat. But before I lost myself into that delightfulness, I stopped after a few seconds, opened my eyes and glanced at Twilight. For she still was looking as bewildered as before.

However an idea soon made its way into my mind. Because after a few seconds of thought, I partially filled my mouth with fresh blood and pulled my fangs out. I then placed my left forehoof over the bite wound to slow the bleeding. After that I waved my right forehoof at Twilight and motioned for her to come closer. In response she lowered her own helm and got within a few paces of me. Then right when she got near I reached forward with my right foreleg and pulled her next to me.

In turn her body had tensed up but for a only a second before I kissed her on the lips and let the blood in my mouth spill into hers. Her eyes quickly fluttered closed from the experience as she began to swallow. Then when my mouth was empty I pulled away and gently moved her head close to the wound on the deer’s neck. And as such with these things, nature soon took its course when she began smelling the blood behind my hoof and leaned in even closer. I then lifted my hoof before she closed her eyes and bit down on the wound.

And just like the rest of my kind she slowly sat down and began to lap and swallow the flowing blood. It was pleasing to say the least to see her get more comfortable doing this, but I did not gaze upon her for too long for my own hunger soon found me again. So I located my own spot on the deer’s neck next to hers and bit down as well. And with that we sat in near silence as we lapped and swallowed down mouthfuls of blood.

However after a few minutes of this I needed to use my blood magic to keep the blood flowing after the deer’s heart stopped. For we had seemingly drained that poor creature almost dry. But when we had finally gotten our fill, we both pulled away from the deer’s neck. However, as a result of what we had just done, Twilight’s expression looked pretty torn. Needless to say I picked up on her mood immediately and calmly stated, “Do not feel bad Twilight. We consume only to survive. It would be no less wrong from a wolf nor any other predator.”

This statement did little to ease her though as she still looked uncomfortable. I merely smiled in response and added “It is simply the circle of life. Most creatures consume life in some way or form. You even consume life when you eat plants. You need to accept this fact, along with what you are now. Do not worry, I will be here to guide you.”

She gave me a weak smile in reply as I pulled her close and wrapped my front legs around her. She then closed her eyes and said, “Thank you, Blood Moon. After all these weeks I think…I think I've finally…accepted…what I am now. What are we going to do with the deer?”

I quietly laughed in response and stated, “What do you mean ‘We’. As I stated before ‘Most creatures consume life in some way or form’. You truly did not believe we were the only ones to get a meal out of this deer, did you?”

She looked puzzled and said, “What?”

I grinned and calmly stated, “Look around and you shall see your fellow beings of the night.”

And so we both scanned the forest and I pointed out a number of eyes of all shape, sizes and colors looking at us. She went wide eyed upon seeing such things and held me closer. I quietly laughed in response and stated, “Do not worry Twilight. They have already measured us and we are too much of a threat. They are just waiting patiently for us to move away from the deer. Come, let us return to your library.”

In turn after a small stretch, we re-armored our helms and walked side by side quietly away from the deer. But when we reached about two hundred paces I motioned for her to stop. “Turn your head and listen,” I whispered to her as I stopped and turned my head to the side before closing my eyes. A small grin soon crept up my face as I heard snarls and snapping noises coming from behind us. “Feast well fellow night dwellers. May your hungers be sated,” I whispered into the dark in reply.

But just like most good things in life our midnight experience had soon drawn to a close. So we had merely exited the forest before we turned our suppression fields back on. Our pace was slow as we walked back to the library and after a few minutes Twilight had yawned and began resting her head against me. It was certainly pleasing to say the least but soon my own fatigue had eventually caught up with me when I had begun to yawn myself. For all I wished to do now was go to bed at this point.

Eventually, when we made it back, I opened the library door to see a concerned Spike behind it. “Where were you guys? I was getting worried,” he stated.

“Do you really wish to know the answer to that question?” I said as I smiled, unarmored my helm, and leaned into the light showing him the blood around my mouth.

He got wide eyed and only managed to say “ummm…errr…eh.”

“Let us just say we were very hungry, and now, we no longer are. No, we did not hurt anypony and yes, we are staying here for the rest of the night,” I said.

He had shivered for a moment in response but after a few seconds Spike gathered his thoughts together enough to state, “I cleaned up the mess in the bedroom. How many of those blood bags did you guys drink? I swear there was at least several dozen."

"I'm sorry Spike. I...haven't been myself lately," Twilight responded.

"Its okay, at least Blood Moon doesn't look like a burnt tree anymore. Hey Twilight, do you mind if I stay over at Rarity’s for tonight?” he inquired with a hopeful grin.

Twilight smiled and said, “Okay, as long as it’s alright with her and you’re not bothering anypony.”

He smiled and said, “No, it's perfectly fine. She's been very happy with my help after I gave her that crystal Blood Moon gave…I mean I purchased.” He proceeded to smack his right claw on his forehead at the slip up.

“It’s fine Spike. I already know where that focusing crystal came from,” she said as she glanced over at me.

I rolled my eyes in reply. “Spike, remind me to never trust you with any sensitive Reaper Knight secrets,” I said and laughed.

“Well, can I go Twilight?” He questioned again more urgently this time.

She smiled again and stated “Yes you may, but make sure you…” however, Spike had already bolted back into the Library. “…Nevermind,” She added.

“You cannot blame him for being interested in his heart’s desire,” I said and winked at her.

After that we both walked into the library and almost got run over by Spike blasting out the front door. I heard him say “Bye you guys” while nearly sprinting with some of his belongings under his arms. I just chuckled at this as I closed the door and shook my head.

I then lowered my armor while my body continued to ache for my fatigue started becoming worse. And just like most other times like this my mind soon began thinking of nothing, but sleep. Twilight must have been thinking the same for she also soon lowered her armor before yawning heavily.

“Let us get cleaned up. With full stomachs maybe this time we can get some well-deserved rest,” I said still attempting to stay awake.

In turn, after we washed the blood and mud off us, I just said “Sweet dreams” before I began walking to the basement door.

In response to this I saw Twilight smirk before stating, “Where do you think you’re going?”

I just stopped in my tracks and blushed in reply. “I apologize, it is…force of habit,” I stated as I turned to walk up the stairs to the second floor. She on the other hoof just jumped and used her wings instead of the stairs. I merely rolled my eyes at this and stated, “Show off.”

She just giggled at my statement before hopping into bed and patting the spot next to her with her left forehoof. And while I would have loved to have joined her with some measure of grace, my stiff body however was having none of such as I gritted my teeth before awkwardly slipping under the covers. Twilight then moved close to me and snuggled her face into my chest. I in turn wrapped my forelegs around her and closed my eyes. I had then just cleared my mind when I noticed it only took her a few seconds to fall asleep. A small smile crept up my face as I thought ‘By the moon, I could only dream of falling asleep that easily.’ However it did not take long before my wish was granted as I soon too fell asleep peacefully, still holding Twilight close to me.

I swear, every time I write parts in my story were someone is going to sleep, I get tired. Of course that is usually cured by more coffee...