I cleared off a large area on the floor in the middle of the hospital room. After that I used my magic to close all the curtains and turn on the lights. This was mainly to remove the light of the early morning sun to better enhance my concentration. For soon with practiced repetition I lowered the armor on my left foreleg and bit down with one fang just above my hoof. Then, while lifting my Book of Shadows, I let a single drop of my blood hit its seal. The result of such caused the square seal itself to starting glowing bright red around its border before it lifted up a centimeter and began to turn clockwise. It then clicked four separate times right before my tome popped open.

Afterwards I used my magic to flip through the pages until I found the one I required. I then let my blood drip onto the floor as I walked and made a crude two meter and three meter diameter circle next to each other. Next my horn soon glowed red as I focused my magic and formed the blood into perfect dual rings for each circle. After which I proceeded to drip more blood on the ground and used my magic yet again to form complex arcane symbols on both circles.

Then after such task was done my eyes and horn soon flared with light blue as I focused some of my stored life force and healed my leg. A deep breath then left my lips right after before I looked at Applejack and stated, “This incantation is what I dubbed ‘The Martyr Circles’. And while this little spell will heal you I must give you prior warning. For the process of using this shall be greatly...painful.”

She frowned in reply but remained resolute before she said, “Ah don’t care how painful it is. Ah ain’t nothing if ah can’t buck apples trees.”

And that was that I suppose before I lifted her out of bed and placed her in the center of the three meter diameter circle. I then walked over and stood on my hind legs in the smaller circle facing her while I summoned my scythe and re-armored my right foreleg. My body soon tensed as I held my weapon in my forehooves and spoke in my mind ‘Suppression armor, suppression field shutdown, activate statue mode.’ And in response my armor quickly hardened around me freezing most of my body in place.

However just as I was about to start Twilight cleared her throat and inquired, “Blood Moon, why is this called ‘The Martyr Circles?’”

I sighed from the question but stated, “Because of what I need to do to heal her. She is neither a vampire nor a lycan and as such her body cannot be...persuaded...to heal fast. So in turn injecting life force into her would do little good. As a result of this the injuries must be instead transferred to somepony who does have the power and ability to heal fast. That would be me at the moment.”

Twilight looked puzzled from my statements for a few seconds before she replied with, “You’d do that for her? Not to be rude, but why? You barely know her.”

I could not help but smile from behind my helm from this. “She is injured and it is within my power to heal her. What more reason do I require?” I said in a kind tone.

And so satisfied with my response Twilight nodded, smiled and stepped back. Afterwards, I told her to put some cloth in Applejack’s mouth to bite down on while I worked. I then took a deep breath and stated, “Are you ready Applejack?” To which she merely gulped and nodded before I closed my eyes and raised my power. And in response my scythe’s blade lit up with light blue flames. Then when I opened my eyes, they and my horn were lit with the same flames as my scythe. In turn my stored life force flowed into my circle first before it glowed with light blue light and began to rotate clockwise. I then took another deep breath and funneled power into Applejack’s circle.

Soon her circle began to rotate counter-clockwise and almost immediately her eyes slammed shut in pain. Her back then arched as her body started to shake. Next light blue energy began to surge from her, arced to me, and then back again. And while I knew what was going to happen I still yelped in pain as the energy flowed over me and shattered my hind legs. Then not a second later I gritted my teeth together as I felt several of my ribs crack and break before a small gash formed on my side. And I admit while the pain became as horrifying as I remembered it, I did indeed persevere in keeping my focus.

Applejack however was having a worse time then I was though. For I was used to broken bones and the such but she was not. In turn, through watering eyes, I saw her body uncontrollably thrash around as her injuries transferred to me. And I could almost swear I heard her bones and flesh knit back together. But after a few minutes of this nightmare I eventually felt no more transference and I soon stopped the flow of power.

And so after the deed was done I focused some of my stored life force and sped up my natural vampiric healing. This in turn caused my own bones and flesh to mend back together, but at the price of more horrid pain. An unpleasant situation to be sure but at least it did not last long.

This is turn brings us back to Applejack who was still lying in her circle breathing heavily. Sweat had continued to drip off of her as she slowly opened her eyes. She then spit the cloth out of her mouth before gingerly moving her hind legs one at a time. But soon renew tears began flowing from her eyes as she began to let out a mixture of hysterical laughing and deep crying.

She then sat up, tore off her bandages and casts, and stood up. After which she started jumping around the room a few times before she yanked open one of window curtains and proceeded to buck her breakfast tray clear out the open window. However this unfortunately caused the tray to sail through the open air and smack into a strange gray furred, yellow maned, walled eyed pegasus. In turn this resulted in the poor pegasus’s flight path to be abruptly altered before she crashed into a pile of hay outside the hospital.

And while she remained unabated in her joy, Applejack did at least lean out the open window and yell, “Sorry Derpy!” before she continued jumping around room all while still laughing and crying.

Twilight on the other hoof just stood there shocked with her mouth agape. She then stuttered and said, “h-h-hooow'd you do that?!”

A pained grin crawled up my face in response before I shut down my armor’s statue mode and sat down. I then gave a ragged chuckle and stated, “I have been working with alchemy circles well before I was a vampire. My colthood lover Pure Blood was quite accident prone. As such I used to use my abilities to store and focus life force and my affinity for blood magic to partially take some of her injuries. This was merely the culmination of years of practice to the point I could take them all.”

Then without warning Applejack jumped next to me, heartily hugged me, and stated, “Ya get all the free cider ya want fer life!”

My body quickly ached from the crushing embrace, but I just accepted it with a sigh before I said, “Princess, can you please consult the hospital staff. If I am to heal all of this hospital's patients then I shall require more blood.” She in turn smiled and trotted out the door. And after that I closed my eyes for moment before opening them again and then glanced over at Rarity. To which a small grin crept up my face before I stated, “Next patient…”

Now being that my body was quite sore I had Applejack attempt to retrieve Rarity in my stead. However to do this she required a small amount of help from a certain sleeping dragon. And while I was amused at her attempts at waking Spike I did have to admit that it was impressive that he somehow managed to sleep through all the commotion. But he stumbled out of his chair completely dumbfounded that she was walking. To which he fumbled out, "What...huh...how are you..." in some vague attempt at making sense of what he was seeing.

But regardless she just waved a hoof in the general direct of me and the circles on the floor before she snickered out, "You'll find out in a minute. Now please give me a claw with Rarity."

Rarity however unlike Spike had indeed woken from all the horrid noises me and Applejack were making a few minutes prior. And though she looked thoroughly bewildered she did not put up much of a protest as Applejack and Spike placed her in the larger circle on the floor. This in turn, as with Applejack, lead me to ask her if she would like to be healed. Her response to the this was a few muffled syllables and a hesitant nod, but she did ultimately agree. And so with that I froze my armor and worked my magic again.

Needless to say my efforts is did not go unnoticed. For once the hospital staff and patients knew what I was doing, I began to gain a growing audience. Or should I say a growing list of potential aid seekers. Though luckily with the assistance of the hospital staff and especially Twilight I was able to start with the ponies with critical conditions first before working my way down to the less severe. In turn I was healing ponies for the better part of a week and barely slept during this period. For one at a time I took their pain and hurt onto myself. And the only factor keeping me going was my unyielding will to correct the wrongs that had been done.

And while noble I suppose in my acts they did however have a foreseeable negative in that my body was burning through blood faster than it ever had before. For I was pushing myself and my vampiric healing to their limits and it was draining me dry. Luckily though many of those already healed were more than willing to donate even after they knew I was drinking it. But eventually I had finally made my way through all the patents before my fatigue caught up with me. In fact I had just barely managed to break my circles and reseal my book before my vision began to blur. Then using the last ounce of focus I had, I unsummoned my scythe right before I collapsed from exhaustion.

An unknown amount of time had seemed to have passed before I awoke painfully stiff. My body felt as if I had been thrown off a cliff only to be dragged back up and tossed a second time. A low groan soon left my lips before I opened my eyes to find myself in a hospital bed. And while this would not be too strange given my current location, what was however, was being completely surrounded by a good section of the ponies I believe I had healed. In turn I just laid there somewhat confused and bewildered as they all continued to stare at me in what seemed like amazement. In fact their expressions only changed when they all got relieved looks on their faces after I had sat up.

Then in an attempt at trying my luck further I slowly lowered my helm. And to my now amazement none of them got even the slightest bit nervous. Even after seeing my glowing red slitted eyes or fangs when I yawned. To say this situation was foreign to me would have been a gross understatement. For my kind were usually feared, hated, or both by the general populace, and here all these ponies were just looking at me with interest. ‘Well Princess Luna, you always lamented that your forces needed to have better public relations…’ I thought to myself.

Thankfully not too long after this I was soon relieved when Twilight cleared out the room. Though not before several of the ponies gave their personal thanks for healing them or a family member. And additionally, to my grand annoyance, some of them had kept trying to touch my fangs or stare at my red glowing eyes while they left. But eventually the only ones that were left in the room were Twilight and her friends who also thanked me again and again for helping them. I merely raised my left forehoof in response before I stated, “You are all quite welcome. Though please save your full gratitude until after I have restored Sweet Apple Acres to its former glory.”

Then after a few more groans I dragged myself out of my hospital bed, activated my helm, and re-activated my suppression field. I then stumbled around in place for a few seconds while I tried to get my balance back. For my body was still horribly tired, stiff, and hurt all over. But after taking several deep breaths I steadied myself before I grabbed my tome. We then all walked out of the hospital room before shutting the door.

Afterwards we all began walking down the long hallway of the hospital in somewhat silence. In fact the only thing that broke it was the occasional doctor or nurse making some sort of gasp noise when they saw me. Not out of fear mind you, but more out of sheer amazement, given I overheard them, about me still being able to breathe let alone move on my own. Though I admit the "moving on my own" part was a difficulty as my body kept protesting as I tried to keep my balance stable.

However balance issues aside I soon had more pressing matters to attend to. For when we were just about to exit the hospital I quickly heard a large group of voices emanating from the direction of the hospital's outermost doors. And upon hearing this the strong desire for a dark quiet room with a cup of mint tea became overwhelming. For as to my dismay, I appeared to have become a bit of a celebrity in Ponyville.

Now I understand that when you heal most of the town's residence, you tend to get noticed. What I did not expect however was having to wade through a sea of overly interested ponies. For it took what seemed like an eternity to move from the hospital to the sanctuary of Twilight’s library. In fact even after we all rushed inside, Twilight and her friends had to forcibly close the door and bar it. Though this did little to dissuade the endless tide of questions and requests that flowed from behind it but at least they could not get to me.

And while I was still quite shaken I did have enough focus to politely ask Spike put a kettle of water over the fireplace. But this was extent of my mental capacity before my head began to throb. In turn merely I placed my tome next me and sat in the middle of floor while I lowered my helm. I then closed my eyes for a moment and began to rub my temples with my forehooves.

My actions however did not go unnoticed as Applejack soon said in a concerned tone, “Ya alright, sugar cube?”

I sighed in response before I stated, “I…apologize…I am unfamiliar with dealing with large crowds. I am a far greater introvert than I am a public relations expert. ”

“an intro-what?” she replied, looking confused.

Twilight giggled at this and stated, “It’s a personality trait. It means he prefers solitude and gets mentally drained when around big groups of ponies. I’m often very much like him.” She smiled and her friends all nodded except for Rainbow Dash.

No, she on the other hoof, just huffed and muttered, “Oh great...another egghead…” Twilight leered at her in response to which she additionally fumbled out, “I mean great! Another egghead to help us out!” It however did little to quell Twilight's ire as her eyes continued to narrow.

I merely laughed at that little interaction and told Twilight to calm down. “Do not worry, I know all about little miss rainboom, the incurable attention sponge,” I stated with a mocking tone. Everypony then laughed except Rainbow Dash who huffed again, sat down, and crossed her front legs over her chest. But after we all calmed down I added, “However, you are also known to be one of the fastest pegasi in Equestria. If you are polite, I may even request for Princess Luna to put in a good word for you with the Wonderbolts,” and winked at her.

Her eyes soon lit up like small suns at what I had said. “Oh my gosh! You can do that?!” she sputtered out and started flying around the room. However, my amusement of such was short lived when my facial expression slowly turned from mild happiness to somber worry.

This time it was Twilight who became aware of my mood. “Is something wrong, Blood Moon?” she inquired.

I pursed my lips for a few seconds in reply before speaking. “Yes, it is my solution for Sweet Apple Acres. The method I have in mind has been barely tested. Almost nopony has been foolish enough to even entertain the thought of it. Well nopony except me. Regardless though I had created it many years ago as an emergency option to try and rejuvenate crops,” I paused for a moment to focus and continued, “The amount of good it can achieve would be awe inspiring, but it is also dangerous. I would need the help of both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. It will also require several materials and nine other ponies’ help not including the aid I will also need from you, princess.”

I then took a deep breath and said, “But ultimately the decision to go forward with this does not rest on my shoulders.” To which I glanced over at Applejack and added, “The choice is yours, Applejack. I will not commit to anything without you and your family’s blessing.”

A look of deep worry and sorrow spread across Applejack face in reply to my statements. She then took off her cowpony hat, held it in her forehooves, sat down, and stared at the floor for a minute. Then not but a second later she looked me square in the eyes and I could see the despair behind them. A single tear soon came out of her right eye before she said, “The reports from mah brother and sister weren't good. Most of the trees are damaged and ah doubt many of them will last through the next winter. The ones that do make it…may never grow apples again.”

More tears welled in her eyes before she added, “Ah have seen firsthoof what miracles you can somehow pull off. Fer mah family and our livelihoods, can ya do this? Can ya truly fix this?”

Her words shook me to my core. For I have unfortunately heard variants of them countless times and it never got easier to endure. But stars be damned if I was going to let such a misdeed go uncorrected. In turn I looked unwaveringly into her eyes and said, “If I can get this to work, then absolutely.”

Then with apparent renewed hope Applejack placed her hat back on her head, wiped the tears from her eyes, and said, “Then what are we doin’ sittin’ around then?”

I in turn smiled at her and then turned to Spike. “Spike, please write a letter requesting an audience with both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. We leave for Canterlot tomorrow at dusk,” I said. After which Twilight and her friends all cheered in unison as a knot formed in my stomach.

Dusk eventually came quicker than I had hoped and rest never found me. A small groan left my lips before I threw on my pack and placed my tome inside it. I then drank the rest of my mint tea I brewed while waiting. The others, on the other hoof, helped Twilight pack a map of Canterlot, some parchment, an inkwell, and a few quills. We then unbarred the door, slowly opened it, and looked out in all directions. Then as per my earlier instructions while we were waiting for dusk, Twilight quietly trotted off to the train station for tickets. Twilight’s friends then all skulked out to their respective residences for any supplies they needed. Me however, I just fully armored up and waited with bated breath for them to return.

But luckily before long they all returned with their own packs. I then took a deep breath and opened the door to the outside again. And again upon my request Twilight and her friends went first before they looked in every direction. Then after a few seconds they all in turn looked at me and nodded.

Nervousness soon plagued me heavily as I walked outside the library and closed the door. For Ponyville was quiet, too quiet than it probably should have been. Like the air of suspense had frightened anything with even a modicum of sense away. However I just had to swallow that thought as we started our journey to the train station.

And to our credit we actually made it about half way unnoticed before we heard what I was dreading. A horde of flashlights quickly beamed down from several of the nearest houses. This was then followed by a cacophony of random voices yelled into the night, “THERE HE IS! I WANT HIS AUTOGRAPH! I WANT TO TOUCH HIS FANGS! I WANT TO SEE HIS EYES!”

My eyes snapped wide open in pure terror in reply before I yelled, “DEAR SWEET LUNA RUN!”

Then in panicked haste we galloped as fast as our legs could take us. I even had to throw Spike on my back to prevent leaving him behind in the chaos. But luckily fortune had favored us when we made it to the train station just as the train was starting to board. As such we all, in rapid succession, jabbed our tickets at the conductor and jumped into a train car. To which was promptly proceeded by slamming all the doors shut before we locked and barred them.

I then sat in the middle of the car as I saw swarms of ponies surround us from all angles outside. My body soon started to shake as I kept looking around at the windows. After which A nervous laugh left my lips as I whimpered out, “By the moon, I am almost starting to wonder if being hated and/or feared was the better option.”

Rarity just winked at me before she laughed and stated, “That’s the adoring public for you, darling.”

Rainbow Dash however merely groaned, “But why can’t that be MY adoring public.”

And while I could have made all sorts of retorts to her comment I just resigned myself to shaking and observing my current companions' reactions to our situation. As such Pinkie Pie and Spike were giggling and making funny faces back at the ponies outside the train car. Fluttershy, on the other hoof, was cowering under the covers of one of the train car beds. Applejack was pointing and laughing at the ponies outside all while saying, “Ha, ya got to git up pretty early in the mornin’ to outfox us.” Rarity just kept striking amusing poses at the onlookers. Rainbow Dash continued to mope. And lastly Twilight in turn walked over to me, smiled, shook her head, and wrapped one of her wings around my back.

Then when train jerked a bit and started to move I took a relieved sigh and said, “Finally...”

After that everypony but Twilight and I retired for the night. As such I simply sat resting my head on my left hoof in one of the table booths and stared out the window at the stars. Twilight soon walked over and sat in booth chair on the other side of my table. A small side glance showed that she was frowning and looked deep in thought. Then after a few seconds her glowing purple eyes looked at me as she whispered, “What’s the plan you have in mind to fix Sweet Apple Acres?”

I took a deep breath through my nose in response. I knew that she would be worried about what was to be done. But to her credit her gaze never wavered as she stared unblinking. In turn I sat up straighter, looked into her eyes, and whispered, “It is another alchemy circle of mine. Though it is significantly more complex than my healing one. However, I had never actually used it on this grand of a scale. As such this is the reason I need the help of several ponies and you princesses.”

She bit her lip after I spoke and looked like she was trying to come up with something to say. Upon noticing this I whispered to her, “I will explain more when we meet with Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. It will be hard to show you my work in the dark,” and set my forehooves on hers and smiled. “Do not worry, one way or the other I will find a way to aid your friend, princess,” I whispered again.

Then without another word I got up and walked over to the other side of the train car. And thankfully there was a curtain to separate us from Twilight’s friends. As such I pulled the curtain closed and tried my best to find whatever I could to cover all the windows. Then over the next hour I showed Twilight a few ways to control her armor. I even gave her access to my armor’s master override in case she needed it.

But soon we both retracted our armors and yawned. She then got into her bed before I covered her. I, on the other hoof, just dragged my tired, aching body over to my own bed and gracelessly slid under the sheets. Then with a final word I stated, “Good night, princess” as sleep began to take me.

However right before I lost consciousness, I heard Twilight get out of her bed and walk over to mine. She then slipped under the covers and snuggled up close to my chest. And in a thoroughly groggy voice I said, “Is something wrong, princess?”

She merely snuggled closer and whispered, “I was cold, and please call me Twilight, Blood Moon," before I wrapped my front legs around her and she fell asleep in mere moments.

A small smile crept up my face upon seeing this. “Good night, Twilight,” I whispered before darkness took me and I began to sleep with the same warm smile on my face.

I wanted to start using some of the abilities that Blood Moon possesses. I am going to have him use more of them from now on. I also hope you are all enjoying the story so far.