The Tale Of BloodMoon

With the night just a few minutes away, Luna's chariot descended on the ruins of the castle of the two sisters to leave Blueblood behind and allow him a moment to ready himself.

At the entrance, Zecora, with her mane flat and some spider webs for effect, was wearing a beige cloak, waiting for the prince in question.

"I will set the mood. Do you remember your signal, nephew?" Luna asks in excitement.

"Yeah, I will wait on that balcony to hear Zecora's story and await when she proclaims my name. Then I will turn into my dusk form and turn the moon red." Blueblood recited the instructions he had memorized.

"Good. After that, follow the group of children and make sure they don't stray from the path. Just loosen up, relax, and embrace your character. Trust me, it's easier than you think," Luna says with a big smile.

"And for extra help, I can mark the trail should you feel lost. Just look for this little lock," Zecora mentions, raising a standard silver look dangling from her hoof.

"As an extra precaution, I add an extra flare to the tale. With these locks has been the fate of those who were bad, serving as warning and guiding signs." Zecora smiled and pointed at a nearby tree, where another silver lock was dangling in its branches, illuminated by moonlight.

"I turned my enemies into silver locks, got it!" Blueblood nods, staring at the one in the tree before looking at Luna. "We will wait right here, Auntie."

"And I will do whatever I can to not delay the festivities. We are going to have so much fun! See you soon." Luna waves goodbye as the chariot flies away, leaving the prince alone with Zecora.

"There is still one hour left before the little ones arrive, which gives us plenty of time for some good old-fashioned warm-ups," Zecora says as she heads inside the castle.

"Warm-ups?" Blueblood repeats as he follows Zecora.

"Indeed, you see, young prince, during each Nightmare Night before the little ones arrive, we open the gates to the older young teenagers seeking some small trills with scares no apt for young children."

As she explains, Zecora guides Blueblood to the second floor, where there are ponies dressed as zombies, were ponies and grotesque monsters with half their disguises on as they chat among themselves.

"You turned the castle into a haunted mansion… eh… castle?" Blueblood is impressed by the decor of the hallways, traps, mechanics of moving armors, false walls, and trap doors being tested around the two.

"Indeed, one more tradition that we call the early fright, and for many teenagers a passing rite."

"One they can treasure forever!" An excited voice called from the right, and when turned, Blueblood was slightly startled when they saw a unicorn stallion dangling from the ceiling. Except the bottom half of his body resembled a realistic tarantula oozing green saliva. His upper half seems relatively normal with his bright orange fur and black mane.

"Hi! Fright Night, director of spooks ghouls and more." The stallion extends his hand for Blueblood to shake. "Nice to have you with us today, Your Highness."

"Thanks for letting me join the fun," Blueblood completed the gesture. "And I must say, Mr. Night, that is one incredible custom; it's almost as if your lower body is fused in the middle of a real giant tarantula."

"Ha, thanks. You would be surprised what you can achieve with patience, wires, paper mache, and some good old-fashioned reanimating and fuse spells."

Fright proclaims, jumping off his web with a spin and landing in front of them, using the spider as his legs. "Here! Let me show you where you can practice your fears. "He encourages the two as they continue walking through the hallway.

"As Zecora said, every night, we turn the castle of the two sisters into a haunted castle for teenagers. For years, I still remember my first early fright. This is not the usual kid's boos and spooks, your Highness, in here we can let loose," Fright explains as he points around.

"We have your usual jump scares," he says, pointing to armor that suddenly leans forward and reveals a half-melted skull in his head.

"The classic flickering lights with spooky shadows." He points to an empty hallway with flickering lights, but each time the lights return, a monster at the end of the hallway seems to get closer.

"You can't go wrong with the proper ambient sounds." He points at the ceiling, where testing spooky soundtracks like chains and howls are playing.

"We even have some psychological horror," He points down at a balcony where a group of ponies are hugging the wall, trying not to be noticed by a giant pony chef working on a deformed kitchen and making a soup… one that seems to have an equine hoof poking out of it.

"Very popular these days, even if a little tricky to pull off."

"So you see, Blueblood, if you have material you want to try, Fright Night is the pony to talk. He can show you the ropes and tell you how to perform."

"Speaking of which, we set the perfect stage for you, your Highness, drum roll, please."

He hit the door frame repeatedly before opening it, revealing the castle's throne room. "Ta-Da."

"The… throne room? You are giving me the whole room for me to scare teenagers?"

"Of course! Think about it! What better place to start the legend of the vengeful prince than where he used to spend his days or where he made a deal," Fright mentions, jumping around the room.

"I'm thinking red fog covering the floor, chains, cages dangling from the ceiling, rusty weapons, skulls, and skeletons, oh yeah. It's all coming together."

Fright says as he uses his magic to set everything up, "With the star appearing on his special seat" With thunder sound effects, a new throne appears at the end of the room, made of swords with some skulls acting as its armrest and poking at the end of the sword acting as a backrest.

"What do you say, your highness? Do you like it? I can also add some fake blood to sell the image!"

"No, no, everything is fine as it is." Blueblood, stop Fright before he does something. "And wow, you really love your job, don't you?"

"Guilty as charged, there is something about the rush of adrenaline, the satisfaction of a good scare, the idea you reach out to your clients; it is enough to put a smile on my face, so what scare would you like to try?"

"Well, I'm supposed to be a vengeful and kind of a hunter, so maybe something that evokes a chase?"

"Say no more! I know what you need. A new group is waiting, and I can guide you step by step. Zecora, could you guide them here?"

"Of course; good luck, young Blueblood." Zecora leaves to bring the teenagers, while Frights explains the plan to Blueblood and assists in choosing the right outfit for the occasion.

Ten minutes later, four ponies, two stallions, and two mares dressed as firefighters and nurses were reaching the throne room.

"I keep telling you, the early fright is losing its edge," One of the nurses with pink and purple fur admits.

"What? Come on, Petals. You were scared," The other nurse, a taller and slimmer pegasus, confronted her.

"Yeah, maybe a little, but after the first surprise, the novelty wears off."

"Damn, Petals, you are ice cold," One of the firefighters, the shorter of the group with light yellow fur, mentioned Petals could only shrug.

"I can't help being harder to scare than others, but hey, A for effort. At least they try."

"I wouldn't be calling victory just yet, Petals; remember, Zecora mentioned they added something new for the throne room," The other firefighter, a unicorn with blue fur, mentions.

"They always try, like the haunted kitchen, the armory, and the garden. The pony-eating plants were a nice touch, but I would not hold my breath; what else could they try?" Petals ask sarcastically as they reach the entrance.

"You are all about to see. I hope this last stop is just what you seek," Zecora says as she slowly opens the door. Petals rolls her eyes and marches inside with her friends.

"Whatever, hit me with your best shot, haunted castle."

They were slightly startled when the door suddenly close shut behind them, making them look back and then forward, where they saw a row of six skeletons with crowns on their heads and swords poking out of their chest as evidence of a gruesome end, one finally the room a seven throne room with yet another corpse this one of a pony with a triangular hat, a leather outfit and a red cape holding what appears to be a golden key.

The floor was covered by a red mist, and the sounds of chains and clanks from suspended cages on the ceilings caught everypony's attention.

Looking up, they saw even more weapons stuck to the ceiling, marks of a struggle with swords, and burn marks.

"What happened here?" The nurse asks.

"It looks like some bizarre and gruesome execution," The blue firefighter mentions, pointing at a painting of a king cross out. The room seems to have those on the walls with the same situation, cut by a sword or the words "traitors" written all over the place.

Examining the place, they even see piles of gold and hoof sticking out everywhere.

"We are also locked," The other stallion points out as he tries to open the door.

"Figures," Petals remains calm as she advances to the corpse at the end of the room. "I think I get it. It's atmospheric fright. The room is creepy, and you don't want to touch anything, but you need to grab that key. I bet it's covered in slime or something," she explains calmly as she continues to approach.

"Petals, wait, what if it's a booby trap?" The nurse tells.

"Oh, come on, Rose. This is a haunted castle, not an escape room. They frightened us, so there's no need to go over…" Petals grab the key, only to gasp and yell when the corpse hoof grabs her complex and comes back to life.

Letting go of Petals, she stumbles and falls back before backing away as the pony rises from his throne.

"Naughty mare, looking for something to steal?"

Blueblood spoke in a deep, dark voice with black eyes and red pupils. "Those who broke the law shall be punished," the prince proclaimed before stomping the floor, making stone walls rise, and trapping the group inside a maze. "Do you wish to escape? You are welcome to try while my blade seeks your chest."

"Petals!" Rose calls in alarm from the maze walls, starting to panic.

"Okay, okay, this is scary, I get it," Petals admits starting to get afraid too, not helped by the sound of blades poking out of the walls and causing them to run.

Soon, the room was filled with screams as the ponies ran away while Blueblood chased them around until they stumbled into the front door, where the key was now, and they worked desperately to open it.

The prince purposely walked slowly, letting them open the door before starting to run once they managed to cross and close the door behind them.

Ending the event by stabbing the door a couple of feet on top of the ponies for one last scare.

Once they were gone, Fright appeared and put the room back in place.

"Not bad, Your Highness! Not bad, you are a natural at scaring."

"You think so, Mr. Night? I didn't go overboard back then?" Blueblood looks at the spider stallion, who shakes his head. "Nah, they love it, trust me, and it looks like the throne room experience was a complete success! Do you want to give another round until you make your entrance?"

"Well, it never hurts to practice. I can give it another go."

"That is the Nightmare Night spirit! Let's give these hormonally confused colts a good fright!" Fright says in excitement as he jumps to the wall. The two prepare to scare group after group until it is finally time for the prince's big entrance.

Heading to the balcony, the prince glanced at himself in a vanity mirror and took a deep breath with his eyes closed, mentally preparing before smiling and pumping himself up.

"It's show time!"