The thought really seemed to strike a nerve in my mind. Nopony had ever peered inside my room besides myself. It was not some place of rest as most living quarters were. It was a place I had designed for one main purpose, containment.

It was certainly fortunate that Twilight had removed my need of it many moons ago. However, it still remained as a reminder of what I had endured for decades. In turn showing another soul of how horrid my suffering had been, frightened me. My fear overrode my fatigue as I nervously decided to not bring up the topic. I truly had thought that perhaps showing Twilight her own room that she would not ask about mine.

“And here is your room Twilight. It should have plenty of room for Spike as well,” I stated trying to keep my nervousness out of my voice.

We walked into the room and she began to look around. “I…umm…thank you. I was…umm just wondering. Where’s your room?” she inquired.

I swallowed hard as I realized I was not going to be as fortunate as I had hoped. “M-my room? O-oh yes, it is…just at the end of the hall. It is not far from this one,” I said fumbling over my words as my nervousness started to break through.

She rubbed her left foreleg with her right and said in an uncertain tone, “Would…I mean could I perhaps…stay with you in your room? If that it’s alright with you and Spike that is.”

Spike did not hesitate in the least. “A room all to myself?! That's awesom-errr I mean, yeah, I’m cool with it,” he blurted out and looked at me with eyes full of hope.

I swallowed hard again as they both just stood there looking at me. “Y-yes, that would not be a…problem,” I said and stuttered a bit as I began to sweat.

I was overjoyed that they did not seem to notice my strange behavior. They just looked pleased with my response. I somehow how knew this was going to happen. While normally I would have been delighted, but at the moment the only effect it caused was that my body started to shake. I needed to think of something, anything to stall for time. At least until I could control myself a little better.

“H-however, before I show you my…room. I am going to see if Rainbow Dash and Cloud Streak had returned. If you would please wait either here or outside my…door and I will return in a few minutes,” I said easing only slightly.

Twilight looked a bit worried, but nodded in response. So without another word I quickly walked out of the room and down the hall. I was truly hoping that my little journey was going to take longer, but I noticed Cloud Streak’s door was ajar.

As I approached I could hear some muffled voices. Then there was a slight moan followed by some heavy breathing. In response I could feel a grin slowly crawl up my face. It did not take a scholar to determine what was happening.

I fully knew what was taking place and I should have left them alone, but a thought nagged at my mind. Rainbow Dash was mortal. Cloud Streak on the other hoof was most definitely not. In other words, I wanted to warn Cloud Streak to not get too rough.

After taking a deep breath I used only my left eye to peer into the mostly dark room. As I squinted I could see Cloud Streak pressed up against the far wall. Her forehooves scraped along the wall as Rainbow Dash was seemingly busy with her more sensitive areas. In addition, every so often Cloud Streak would moan a little more from the obvious feeling of pleasure.

Admittedly the sight was not displeasing to witness, but I soon frowned when I realized I was beginning to feel like a voyeur. So after fighting back so my body’s more interesting urges I whispered quietly, “Be careful Cloud Streak. She is not as durable as us.”

Cloud Streak looked straight at me with a very pleased smile on her face. She then nodded right before her eyes rolled back into her head as she quietly moaned some more.

I smiled as I slowly closed the door. It had been a long time I believe since she had felt the touch of another. Her sometimes irritable mood was evidence that she desperately needed to sate those urges. I just chuckled to myself as I walked back down the hall. ‘Perhaps she will be in better spirits after that,’ I said in my mind.

However the smile on my face faded as I remember why I was stalling in the first place. To my luck though, my body had fortunately stop shaking. I took a deep breath and stated in my mind, ‘This was going to happen at some point. The sooner I get this over with, the sooner I can stop worrying.’

My internal dialog did little to calm my nerves as I continued to walk towards my room. To make matters worse my body started to shake again when I met Twilight. Much to my displeasure she had decided to wait outside my door.

As I arrived I kept averting my gaze. Twilight soon cleared her throat and then brightly said “How are Rainbow Dash and Cloud Streak?”

I gave a small smile and said “They are umm…enjoying each other's company.”

She looked confused for a second and then shrugged. “Soooo are we going to go in or stand here all day,” she said in a joking tone while she nodded towards my room door.

“Ah yes…of course. Just let me work the seal,” I said as I nervously began to work the seal on the door.

“A seal on your bedroom door? Trying to keep somepony out huh?” Twilight said as she continued to joke.

I gave an uneasy laugh and lied, “Yes…keep out…that is it heh heh.”

After a few moments the door swung open to reveal a mostly empty and very plain room. Well plain if you neglect the fact that every wall along with the floor and ceiling were covered with dark iron plates. In one corner of the room was a smashed night stand. It was the unfortunate target of one of my more horrid nights. I honestly do not remember smashing it to pieces, but here it was. On one of the walls there hung a body sized mirror frame. The mirror it held had been destroyed many moons ago in a fit of self loathing. In the center of the room was my extremely sturdy bed that I hated so very much. Then lastly, all of this delightfulness was only being illuminated by a single blue flame lantern that hung in the center of the ceiling.

I walked into the room and sat down next to my bed. I then lowered my head and closed my eyes. “W-well this is my…room,” I said in a voice only slightly above a whisper. After I finished speaking I wrapped my forelegs around myself in a futile attempt at comfort.

As I opened my eyes again to stare at the ground, Twilight gave her response. Her voice seemed distant and sorrowful as she said “…‘I mainly sleep in my armor when away from my normal lodgings…it is best if I am anchored at night’. It’s true what you wrote in your tome …I…I…,” but she could not seem to finish her statement.

I looked up to see that she was holding my tome close to her chest. In addition she seemed to holding another small book along with it. While my mind started to wonder what that other book could have been, my despairing mood prevented any inquiry.

In turn I just lowered my head again and closed my eyes. I did not know what to say or do at this point. My mind was filled with so many horrid memories. I had slept so well with Twilight in other locations I almost forgot I possessed this room. The remembrance of this fact made time crawl as we just sat there in silence.

After a period of time that felt like an eternity, I heard Twilight place my tome and the other book on the floor. I then heard her slowly walk around the perimeter of my bed. A few moments passed before I looked up to see her examining my bed posts. Each one of those awful things were fifteen centimeter thick solid dark iron poles. At the top of each of the posts was a ring that connected to a chain that ended in a manacle. There were four of those chains and manacles in total, one for each leg.

I heard her whisper “I really hope this works,” before she walked closer to me. After she got to me she looked me in the eyes. I could see a few red tears had formed in them. She then swallowed and said “Can you please summon your scythe?”

“My..scythe?” I said in mild confusion. She merely nodded in response. It was a strange, but I just raised my left eyebrow and complied with her request.

“Thank you,” she stated before taking my scythe out of my hooves and placing it on the far wall. She then walked back over to me, sat down and placed her forehooves on my armor’s ring. I then heard a muffled voice in my mind “Suppression armor, master override, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Retract and Detach”.

I felt my armor slide back over my body into the ring around my neck. “Twilight…I do not…I…” I said, but could not find the proper words as I placed my left forehoof on my armor’s ring. She just made a “Shhhh” noise before lowering my hoof and removing my armor’s ring. She then walked over and placed the ring next to my scythe. I remained watchful of her as she took off her own armor ring and placed it leaning up next to mine, just barely touching each other.

Twilight then walked back over to me and looked into my eyes again. While it was a pleasing sight to gaze into those beautiful purple slitted eyes, my body would not stop shaking. I had felt so vulnerable without my armor and scythe. I even kept glancing over at them until Twilight placed her right forehoof on the side my face. She then leaned closer to me and kissed me on the lips.

My eyes slowly closed as I began to savor the moment. Every thought in my mind, every worry, and every fear faded in that sweet embrace. After a few moments we separated and she led me to my bed. After she laid me down on my back, my nervousness started to claw back into my body. Horrid memories of times past regarding this bed flooded my mind.

Twilight’s face showed that she must have sensed my mood when she began to lie down next to me. She in turn seemed to move in slow, calm, and measured motions before settling next to me. While it was pleasing display, it did little to calm my nerves. As I began to get lost in my thoughts again, I felt her move her left forehoof and touch the side of my face. I then saw her give me a small smile before she leaned over again and kissed me for the second time.

As the same as before, I felt my body and mind get lost into that sweet embrace. A growing ache began to build in me as we continued. It also seemed as if I could not get enough of that kiss. After only seconds had passed, I pulled her closer until our fangs brushed against each other. Our pointed tongues began to glide against one another as she slowly got on top of me.

As we separated from our kiss, my nervousness started to build again. I did not even know I was reaching for one of my bed’s manacles until Twilight gently pinned my left foreleg to the bed. In response I just swallowed hard as I attempted to say something. Before I could speak she placed her left forehoof over my mouth and said “Shhhhh,” in only a whisper.

After a few moments Twilight of grinning at me, she tipped my head up and to the side. She then lean in closer and began kissing the side of my neck. I could not describe the feeling of her fang gliding over my neck. The word “pleasurable” would have been a gross understatement. In addition, for reasons completely unknown my body was screaming for her to bite me. However she decided to do something even more pleasing.

She began slowly kissing down my neck, then my chest, and then my stomach. My mind was too scrambled to determine what she was attempting to do until she must have found what she was looking for. My eyes soon rolled back in my head in response to her delightful efforts on my more sensitive areas. My breathing then quickened and it appeared I was making some interesting involuntary noises.

However just like before, after she stopped to crawl back on top of me, my damnable memories of this bed and room poured back in. I had tried to do everything in my power to push them out, but yet they remained. My pure effort I was putting in became more than infuriating. I even began to squeeze my eyes shut in a futile attempt at blocking them out.

With what little focus that I had to spare I overheard Twilight mumbling to herself. She whispered “Hmm looks like this is going to be harder than I thought. I guess I'm going to have to pull out all the stops. Oooh I really hope this works,” before she lifted herself up and quickly thrust down.

A surge of pleasure fired through my body as she began to move her hips up and down in a rhythmic motion. My teeth soon gritted together as the wonderful sensations fought for dominance against my memories. The forces pushed back and forth with either side not gaining anything for long. Well that was until Twilight must have decided to throw everything she had into it.

While she continued to mount me, she leaned close to my neck and kissed it. I then felt her mouth open right before she dug her fangs in. The additional surge of pleasurable pain sealed the battle. My memories did not stand a shadow of a prayer anymore. Each additional thrust from Twilight sent surges of pleasure that hammered against my mind.. After only a few moments of this, the years of pain and suffering seemed to crumble away like poorly made masonry.

However, while my memories did not fully remove themselves, they held no more sway over my mind. The result felt as if a great weight had been lift off of me. This feeling was second only to the removal of my nightmares. Tears of joy soon formed in my eyes as we continued.

I wore the largest smile of my life as I pulled Twilight off of me and rolled her on her back. I then quickly healed my neck wound and then proceeded to make it my personal mission to please her as I deeply thrust inside of her. It was the only thing I could think of to repay her efforts. This in turn appeared to be greatly welcomed as I saw her eyes roll back in her head. She ultimately had to stick her right foreleg over her mouth to muffle her moans.

We kept going at our quick and heavy pace until I could feel her body getting close to climax. However, she just could not seem push it over the edge. In response I switched my methods a few different times, but they did not seem to help. As a final resort I tried to emulate what she had done to me.

In turn I leaned over and kissed her neck a few times. This resulted in her breathing to quicken even further. However, it was still not enough as she appeared to want something more. So I made a small grin before I opened my mouth and dug my fangs into her neck.

I ultimately had to hold on for dear life as her back arched and her body shuttered. Her forehooves even scraped down my back as she squeezed me closer. Though this delightful sensation was only felt for a moment before I pulled my fangs out of her neck when I climaxed as well.

With what little strength I had left I quickly healed Twilight's neck wounds before I collapsed next to her. I then hugged her close to me. There were no words that I could say to express my gratitude. The only thing that I wished to know was how did she know what to do? The act of healing mental wounds was a strange and largely unknown art.

So as my curiosity peaked I decided to ask after caught my breath. “Twilight, not to sound ungrateful, but how did you do what you did?” I stated still holding her close.

She looked up at me in a dream like look and said “Hmm? Oh that. Well, I was doing some research into your…condition...when I found a book in the library.” She used her magic to float the purple book she was carrying before over to us. It was labeled ‘Psychology: Overcoming Traumatic Experiences’.

I just gave a small chuckle before I stated, “A psychology book, I should have known.”

“Well it helped you didn't it? It basically states you have to overcome bad memories by overriding them with good ones. In addition the more vulnerable the patient is when the good memories take place, the more effective the treatment will be,” she replied and giggled with a ‘matter of fact’ type of tone.

“Well that explains why you removed my armor and took my scythe,” I stated with a look of amusement.

“Exactly!” she replied and snuggled closer to me. However, after a few moments I looked down to see her deep in thought and biting her lip.

I raised an eyebrow and stated, “Something on your mind Twilight?”

She snapped out of her trance and blinked a few times. “What? Ah yes, I've been meaning to ask you. Your lieutenants...I…” she said, but she started biting her lip again at the end.

I gave a small laugh and said “You wish to know about the ponies that are watching over your friends? Also if they can be trusted?”

She nodded and smiled up at me. I just gave another small laugh and said “Ahh well where to begin. I suppose it would be easiest to go in chronological order. So I suppose I shall start with Cloud Streak first.”

I closed my eyes and felt the smile on my face slowly fade as I began to remember how I found Cloud Streak. “It was some time back when Princess Luna was still banished. At that time all supernaturals were confined to guarding the city. I was just undertaking a normal nighttime patrol around the city walls at the time. It was completely uninteresting as usual, until I heard something,” I said and pursed my lips.

“Although it was faint, it sounded like somepony was crying. As I swiftly moved to the source, I heard somepony state ‘No place left and nowhere to go.’ Shortly after that, the smell of fresh blood became heavy in the air. I quickened my pace and that is when I…found her,” I said at the words start to become hard to say.

I swallowed and continued, “She was wearing new recruit armor and was leaning up with her back to the city wall. As I moved closer, I saw that she had deep cuts on both of her forelegs and was rapidly bleeding out. However, when I got to her I did not have enough time to work a circle to heal her. So…I…was forced to turn her into one of us to save her. I…held her the entire time she turned.”

I could feel my teeth start to clench. “After doing a bit of inquiries, I had the discovered the reason why she had committed such an act. She is, as some ignorant fools would call, a ‘fillyfooler”. This fact was exposed when she was caught embracing another mare recruit at some point and her torment never let up. In turn, I hunted down every single one of her tormentors and had them…disciplined. She has been happily with me ever since. I even began to be some sort of bizarre ‘father’ figure to her,” I said and hugged Twilight closer.

Twilight giggled and said “Well I suppose that explains your comment from earlier about her and Rainbow Dash ‘Enjoying each other’s company’.”

I could not help, but laugh and state “Indeeed.”

After a few moments I pursed my lips and then said “After Cloud Streak I believe Night Star was next. I truly wish I had more information on her, but I do not. In addition, I have little to no idea on what she looks like. She never takes her helmet or armor off, or at least not in anypony’s presence. What little I do know is that she is a veteran solder who has lived longer than I have. She ended up joining me after I started asking questions about Cloud Streak’s tormentors. I even remember her statement when she joined me. ‘Your heart is in the right place. It is a rare attribute in such a world as ours. You will need help facing it lest you be taken advantage of.’ I have always been thankful for her aid.”

The smile on my face returned as I remembered how I met Gray Mane. I then cleared my throat and said, “I suppose Gray Mane is next and he truly is an interesting fellow to say the least. The only thing I know about his past is that he was originally just a royal guard. However, his notorious rage issues got the better of him when he was on a mission away from the royal palace. He went hoof to claw with an enemy lycan and got bitten as a result.”

I just shook my head and continued, “I believe the only thing that truly changed was his outside appearance now matched what he had on the inside. Though the result only made his temper problems worse. In addition, he always seemed to be two paces away from getting discharged from service because of it. I would imagine the only reason he was not, was because everypony was afraid of what would happen if he was. He did not come under my command until a while back when he got into an argument with his superior.”

I laughed a little bit remembering the memories of that day. “You see, they got into a ‘shouting match’ of sorts. I was merely observing at the time as it had gotten rather noisy and attracted attention. However, it did not take long before it became violent. Luckily I managed to intervene right before his superior got cleaved in two,” I said while I rolled my eyes.

I then shook my head and grinned before continuing, “However in his blind rage he decided to take a swing at me. This ultimately led me to forcefully shove him out of a palace window. He howled as he plummeted several stories to the ground. When I found him he had broken all of his legs and was apparently fading in and out of consciousness. So I bit him and put his body back together.”

“After I had healed him I merely said ‘Do that again and I shall toss you out of a window a second time.’ His only response was to laugh and say, ‘You’re the only one of those little shits to actually stand up to me.’ He has been under my watchful eye ever since as it appears I am one of the few he will actually take orders from. One of his few redeeming features though is that he has always been fiercely loyal to me,” I said and emphasized the last sentence to calm Twilight down.

After I assured her several times of Fluttershy’s safety I continued, “The next one was Shadow Dancer. From what I managed to gather, he was originally in a circus of some type as an acrobat. He apparently got caught…fooling around with the ringleader’s daughter. After almost being slain several times he ran away, but his past haunted him. No other group of performers would take him. I believe he joined the royal guard as a last resort.”

“However, he quickly became a pain in the ass for just about every other soldier. He was a notorious practical joker and played pranks often. He was only a hoof’s length away from getting discharged when I witnessed him save several ponies from a building fire. Nopony else was agile enough to dodge the flames, but him. In turn, I took him into my small unit and taught him how to control himself better. Well as good as I suppose he is going to get. At least he usually means well and has been through quite a bit with me,” I said and rolled my eyes as I remembered a few of the stunts he committed down the years.

I then kissed Twilight on a forehead and hugged her again. After a little bit I yawned and said, “And now for the last one, Tactics. It is…actually…sort of my fault on how he got the way he was. Tactics used to be one of the military planners for Princess Celestia. I use 'military planner' in his case loosely as he little more than an obsessive compulsive 'paper pusher'. He desired to have anything even remotely regarding a strategy on paper while also being signed by the submitter and copied.”

I let out a little laugh as I remember in detail on how Tactics got turned into a lycan. I sniffed back a few tears of laughter and said “I was having a rather miserable day at the point. I was completely lacking sleep from a recent guard watch and he just would not be silent about some report I turned in. He kept droning on and on about how it needed to be signed or something. So in a fit of irritation, I yanked the quill out of his hooves, dug it into my right foreleg and signed the document with my own blood Hahahaha.”

After I calmed myself from my fit of laughter I continued, “It was probably one of the few times I ever saw him show an emotional response. He quickly recoiled away and possessed an amusing visage of horror on his face. However he fumbled into one of the lycan prisoners some guards were transporting. The prisoner’s muzzle accidentally slipped off and he bit Tactics on the right shoulder.”

I took a deep breath through my nose and closed my eyes. After a few seconds I said, “After Tactics got turned into a lycan the other military planners wanted nothing to do with him. Also because he had made so many enemies from his obsessive compulsive ways the royal guards had no desire to take him either. A week or so passed before I saw him again. I found him huddled against a tree outside the city walls. It was a full moon night and he was fighting a losing battle with his more ‘beastly’ side. As I felt responsible for his downfall I taught him how to feed that night and took him into my unit. He has actually proved quite useful and we have been on good terms ever since.”

I looked down at Twilight and said, “Well there you have it. That is how my unit, or should I say band of misfits, came to be and who they are. We are certainly an odd bunch I suppose. A strange grouping put together because no one else wished to have us.”

Twilight snuggled into my chest and whispered “I wish to have you.”

I had nothing to say in response, but it felt so good to hear those words for some reason. While I know me and my lieutenants were like a family to each other, this was different. It was a reminder that I was not so broken that somepony wanted to connect with me on an emotional level. It was also a reminder of the removal of that awful feeling of emptiness that had lasted for so many years. I fought back tears of happiness as I kissed Twilight on the forehead before we slipped off to sleep.

I wanted to make this chapter into something that cleared a few things up. Up until this point, I merely have been hinting at the past of all of Blood Moon's Lieutenants. This chapter spells out some of their histories and how they came to join Blood Moon. In addition, I wanted to wrap up that comment Blood Moon made back in chapter two about sleeping in his armor. Admittedly my "Solution" was a bit saucy in execution. It did however play into Twilight's usual habits of reading and researching though. As always I hope you all enjoy reading my story as much as I enjoy writing it.