Written in honor of the "blood moon" lunar eclipse.

>Night Blood Moon in Equestria.

>You are Anonymous: Vampire Hunter!
>And today you are out on a job to repair a door with your erstwhile assistant Carnelian.
>She is all you could hope for in a subordinate.
>She’s can follow directions, has a good work ethic, and her ability to fly is an added bonus.
>Yes, you two may have gotten off to a rocky start, what with her being a bat pony and you being a vampire hunter, but after a bit of civil discussion you had become good friends.
>Heck, you two are a living testament to successful multi-cultural relations. 
>In any case you are both just about done with your current task when you see the local royalty trotting by.
>H.R.H. Princess Twilight Sparkle is deep in a discussion with another pony.
>And a stallion to boot!
>You're pretty sure his name is Comet Tail.
>It’s rare to see the alicorn paling around with a stallion; usually her friends form an impregnable wall between her and any would-be male companion.
>As they go on about several matters astronomical you remember that Comet Tail’s talent is in stargazing.
>Which just happens to be one of the Princess’s favorite things in the whole wide world.
>Apparently he is using that to his advantage because while she is going on about several notable celestial features, it’s pretty clear that the only heavenly body the stallion is paying attention to is the one walking beside him.
>Well played, sir. Well played.
>While you’re watching the amusing scene before you, Carnelian lets out a small gasp and drops her hammer.
>Not sure what has her in a tizzy you see her rush up to Twilight and her companion.
>“Pardon me Princess, you said tonight is the blood moon?”
>“That’s right. It’s a rare occurrence where Luna passes the moon through the planet’s umbra and-“
>“And what time does it start?”
>“Oh, well it start it’s transit thought the penumbra  at 8:05 tonight. Which is actually really early for this sort of thing. In fact-“
>“Thank you Princess. I really appreciate it. Gottagobye!”
>Leaving Twilight Sparkle behind, she rushes back over to you.
>She picks up her hammer and gets back to work with a look of determination on her face.
>It would actually be kind of cute if it weren’t so worrying.
“Something the matter, Nel?”
>She looks up sharply.
>“No! No, why would anything be wrong? I just want to get this thing done so we can call it a night.”
“You do remember that we were going to go see that play tonight right?”
>“Ah horsefeathers that’s right! I’m sorry Anon, I can’t go tonight. Maybe someone else can use my ticket?” she looks genuinely disappointed.
>Something is up and you want to know what it is.
“Alright, what’s going on? Does it have to do with this ‘blood moon’ thing?”
>“It… yes it does, and no, I don’t want to talk about it. It’s just- well- kind of embarrassing.”
“Nel,” you gently soothe, “I have three sisters, remember? If you’re having some sort of, ah, feminine troubles you can confide in me. Not that I want any details, mind you.”
>She gives you a glare. “What? No! It’s nothing like that, I just need a night in is all. Please don’t worry ok?”
>Her glare softens into a pleading look.
>Well, you don’t want her to be uncomfortable so you let the matter drop.
“Alright, I guess we’ll catch the play another time.” 
>It’s too bad. You had really been looking forward to ‘Time and Punishment: Sins of the Solar Mare’.  
>“No, no, you should go. Maybe Spike would like to go?”
“Are you sure?” you ask. She had really been looking forward to it as well.
>“Positive. I’ll head home and you go see if Spike wants to go. You do owe him after all.”
>That was true, he had been doing you a lot of favors lately.
>You finish the door and bid your assistant a hesitant farewell.
>As she canters away you swear that you see her glancing nervously at the sky.
>Weird.
>But if she doesn’t want to talk then you’re not going to pry.
>Arriving at Golden Oaks Library you find Spike, Twilight Sparkle, and Comet Tail setting up for some heavy duty astronomy.
>When you ask the young dragon if he would like to see the play he jumps at the chance.
>As he tries talks his mistress into letting him go, she seems hesitant.
>You look over at Comet Tail and give him a look that is instantly recognizable between males no matter what species they are.
‘Well lover boy, I’m giving you a chance to be alone with Ms. Unicorn-of-Your-Dreams here. What are you going to do about it?’
>Fortunately the stallion gets the hint and gives a polite cough.
>“Actually,” he says, “I think we can handle all the rest of the preparations ourselves. And I’m sure the play doesn’t run too late, right?” He glances in your direction.
“Yeah, it’ll be over about nine-thirty, or ten.” you confirm.
>Reluctantly, the Princess agrees, much to Spike’s and Comet Tail’s delight.
>As you head out the door you give the pair of ponies one more look.
>Twilight is back to rambling on about optimal telescope placement and Comet Tail has a grin on his face that is so cheesy you could make fondue out of it.
>Both you and Spike head to the little theatre in the center of town.
>It’s a quaint little setup; kind of like where they used to do Shakespeare in the Park back home.
>When it starts to get dark the play begins.
>The story is quite interesting. 
>Rather than the usual propaganda about how Luna went rogue and Celestia nobly and selflessly banished her sister to the moon, this play delves into the possible reasons why Luna broke with her sibling. 
>Far from painting Luna as a selfish, entitled brat, the playwright takes great pains to show Celestia as a somewhat self-righteous and uptight mare who neglects Luna while the younger mare slowly slips into depression and then madness.
>You have no idea if any of this is accurate but it’s entertaining as all get out.
>Seriously, HBO could probably turn it into a mini-series or something.
>Although, knowing HBO, they would probably have to add more sex and murder to it, and given that it’s a story about ponies…
>Yeah, maybe not. 
>As you reach the climax of the play the actress playing Luna makes her final ultimatum to Celestia’s character.
>Part of her speech, though, gives you the chills.
>“Now ‘dear sister’ I call upon the blood moon’s tawny light. It shall aid me and mine e’en as it brings about thy downfall!”
>Projected on the back screen of the stage is a clever silhouette of the moon. 
>Celestia’s actress looks up with mock horror on her face and pleads with her counterpart.
>“No Luna. The baleful light of the blood moon only invokes madness.  I beg thee, do not look upon it.”
>“To late!” the madmare cackles as the white projection of the moon slides into a muddy shade of red.
>An impressive series of pyrotechnics goes off and when they are done a considerably taller mare done up as Nightmare Moon stands in place of Luna’s character.
>After that it’s one big stage battle with lots more pyrotechnics and effects.
>Beside you Spike gasps as the action unfolds but, honestly, you’re a bit preoccupied with what that actress had said.
>‘The baleful light of the blood moon only invokes madness.‘
>Suddenly, you very much want to get home.
>The play ends as you knew it would with Luna trapped in the moon and Celestia weeping for her fallen sibling.
>The curtain falls and the crowd goes nuts.
>It was a great play.
>Too bad you stopped paying attention to it about fifteen minutes ago.
>You stand up and hurry to get Spike home.
>When he protests you remind him that Twilight will get mad if he’s out to late.
>Spike rolls his eyes and makes a snarky comment about how she won’t miss him at all with Comet-Casanova on the scene.
>Wait- was there really a pony here in Equestria named Casanova?
>No, no! You’re getting distracted.
>You need to get Spike home so you can check on your room mate.
>Not that you’re worried or anything.
>So what if she is a bat pony, and therefore one of the card carrying denizens of the night.
>And so what if you just heard that the blood moon can cause madness in those that inhabit Luna’s sphere of influence.
>And so what if- Holy Crap The Eclipse Has ALREADY STARTED!
>You resist the urge to simply pick Spike up and carry him back to the library.
>But you urge him to go a little faster all the same.
>When you finally get back to Golden Oaks you can see the outlines of two ponies and a telescope on the second story balcony.
>Normally, you would take some perverse delight in calling out to them just to see if maybe you could catch them in the middle of something, but right now you need to go.
>After you hurry your young charge though the front door you turn and book it back to you place.
>As you approach your house you slow down.
>You don’t really know what’s going on so you’re not sure how you want to approach this.
>Maybe she’s fine.
>Maybe a blood moon is some kind of religious holiday to her and she needed to spend the night praying to Luna or something.
>Maybe it really is ‘female troubles’.
>Maybe she’s been turned into a blood thirsty monster who seeks to slake her unquenchable thirst on the life fluids of the innocent?
>No! Stop it! Letting your imagination run away with you won’t help anything.
>Still, you bend down to retrieve a small silver dagger from it ankle sheath.
>Chances are nothing bad is going on and you'll walk through that door and everything will be fine.
>But just in case…
>You grip the dagger in your hand.
>If something has gone wrong you will make sure that your friend doesn’t hurt anybody, or herself.
>After all, it’s what Batman would do. 
>Easing up to the front door you open it slowly.
>Stepping inside you note that all the lights are off.
>Gingerly, you flip on a small hall lamp.
>Nobodies home.
>Worried, you make a beeline for Carnelian’s room.
>The door is closed.
>Knocking softly, you call out to her.
“Nel, are you in there?”
>You hear a small rustle.
>“Go away.”
“I just want to make sure you’re ok. Can you please open the door?”
>“No, leave me alone.”
“I will, but first I just want to say good night. Please open the door.”
>“NO!”
Something is definitely fishy and you are going to get to the bottom of it.
You jiggle the doorknob only to find it is locked.
>“Go away!” she cries.
>Normally you would honor that request, but right now your fear is over-riding your common sense.
>With a practiced motion, you use the tip of your small dagger to pick the lock on the door.
>Flinging the door open you step into the room.
>A startled pony flares her bat wings and looks up at you WITH GLOWING RED EYES!
>Not reflected light like a cat’s eyes, but a demonic red light that radiates from her skull’s sockets like the light of the blood moon outside.
>You’re so startled that you freeze for a moment and this gives the mare time to lurch forward.
>As you begin to move into a defensive position the bat mare jumps to the side and dives into her bed.
>Puzzled by Carnelian’s actions, you relax a bit.
>Then you hear a small sound coming from the pillows on the bed.
>She’s crying.
>Swallowing your apprehensions you shuffle over to your friend’s bedside.
>It could be a tap. She could be using your sympathies to bait you out.
>But you hope not.
“Nel,” you mutter, “Are you ok?”
>She raises her head. 
>You suppress a shudder as those red spotlights come to rest on you.
>“N-now you see why I didn’t want to go out tonight.”
“Is this because of the moon?”
>“Mmm-hmm.” she nods slightly. “Every time there’s a b-blood m-moon our eyes glow red. It’s s-supposed to be one of those blessings from Luna.”
>She barks a harsh little laugh. “Some blessing, huh? If I went out right now everypony’d think I was a demon from Tartarus.”
Almost automatically you respond by saying, “I’m sure that’s not true.”
>“Oh really? W-what’s that dagger doing in your hand?”
>Ouch. She had you dead to rights.
>You sigh and set the dagger on the night stand.
“I’m sorry Nel. I should have trusted you more. I heard tonight that the blood moon causes madness in night dwellers and I thought, well… You wanted to get home so bad and all. It really was a wolfman kind of scenario.”
>She snorts indignantly. “F-first of all, I don’t know what a wolfman is. Secondly, the moon just makes my eyes glow red. I mean, every bat pony going crazy just because we had an eclipse, come on!”
“Well, when you put it like that…” Now you really felt like a heel.
>You both sit there quietly for a few moments.
>Then Nel asks a question that makes you stomach drop out from beneath you.
>“Were you really going to attack me if I had, y’know, gone crazy?”
>You take a deep breath and try not to shudder as you answer.
“No, I wasn’t going to attack you. I was going to stop you from doing anything that you’d regret later.”
>You look her in the eyes, or try to. It’s really hard when they look like that.
>Carnelian looks away first and hiccups a little.
>“That’s so like you.” She looks back up and gives you a small smile.
>You simply grin and lean in to give her a hug.
>As she rests her head on your shoulder for a moment she murmurs into your ear.
>“You know, when it’s a blood moon, anything I drink DOES taste a lot better for some reason.”
>She gives the nape of your neck a small lick with her raspy tongue.
>“I wonder what you would taste like right now.” She smacks her lips.
“Uhhh…”
>She pulls away suddenly.
>“Kee kee kee! I’m just kidding! Although,” she pokes at her stomach, “I am kinda hungry.”
>Trying not to show your relief you stand and head towards the door.
“Well we do have some of that blood pudding leftover that I made yesterday.”
>“Oh yeah! That stuff was great!”
>As your room mate gets up and trots out with you towards the kitchen you can’t help but be curious about her glowing orbs.
“Does that mess with your vision at all?”
>“Nah, I can see just fine. When the blood moon ends they’ll go back to normal. But there is one side effect.”
“Oh, what’s that?”
>She looks up at you with those horrible, adorable red peepers, “Well, for the next day or two my eyes will probably be REEALLY bloodshot.”
>Honestly, you think as the mare snickers at her own horrible joke, it’s a good thing you left your dagger on the nightstand in her room.

>Fin.