Okay every pony, sorry to keep y'all waiting but I have a special announcement to make: This months contest is going to be NIGHTMARE NIGHT THEMED!

This doesn't mean that it has to revolve around nightmare night exactly, we don't want nightmare night to be the focus of the story, but plays a rather large role. Anything within the spirit of Halloween/Nightmare Night. I'm talking costumes, masquerade balls, haunted houses, you get the picture.

Think A Skeleton at Her Door, but with ponies.

We know some of you might be adverse to this, but I think you'll understand when you see the pairing.
The Pairing for this month was decided by the Prompt Hats.
From the Top Hat, Princess Luna

From The Cowboy Hat, Fancy Pants

I do believe that this could be or best contest ever. Deadline for submissions is November 1st.

OMG... Lunar Pants!

Fancy Pants seems to be such an overall nice guy... pair him up with consummate bad girl Luna and it's a match made in... well, somewhere.

I posted a link in the Lunaverse forum, because... Luna.

1869245 A match made in fiction, truly. FimFiction.

I really like this idea, but it's something I'll have to think on. I'm sure a dozen ideas will be popping into my head over the next few days, and I have to be certain I pick the right one.

The weakness, for me, is that it's centered around Nightmare Night, which is basically Halloween. My general idea of a Halloween special is... well, let's just say romance isn't the first thing on my mind. So yeah, I'll need to find a way to turn my typically darker interests of the season into something romantic.

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So yeah, I'll need to find a way to turn my typically darker interests of the season into something romantic.

Fancy Pants dies for no good reason... Luna stitches him back together because she can't live without him? But uh-oh... conflict. Fleur isn't about to go away that easily... may the best mare win.

OK, I need to go to bed now...

I have an idea. There's a problem: creepypasta galore. My initial concept may perhaps be too... 'rough' for this group's audience. I'll have to think on it for a bit, but in the meantime, does anyone think there should be limits to that kind of thing?

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Good News: I have a solid concept.
Better News: It's creepypasta without the blood.
Bad News: Much longer and more complex than my usual. Multiple chapters, a bit of complexity. Hopefully it won't take all friggen month to write, else my reputation for being the first to enter a story might be ruined.

Okay I have an awesome idea. First prompt with this group, and it's awesome!

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I don't see a problem with a "Dark" tagged Nightmare Night themed romance. Wasn't the Bride of Frankenstein supposed to be a creepy love story in a manner of speaking?

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If you want to go with creepy love stories, look at "The Corpse Bride" or, perhaps, "The Nightmare Before Christmas." Then again, those are a much more 'fun' version of creepy, so I dunno.

Maybe "Sweeney Todd"?

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Tim Burton does seem to be the master of the creepy romance. The ones you mentioned, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands... even Pee Wee Herman to an extent.

If it goes with this month's theme, "rough" is just something we'll have to deal with, and this month is as good a reason as any to do something like that. I mean, part of the point of us writing these stories is to step outside of the box a bit and challenge the norm, right?

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"Rough" was my original intent. My new concept is much less bloody. I'm hoping it will still be frightening, though it's delivery is slow. I've written creepypasta before, but this story is a departure from my usual methods, so I have no idea if it will turn out how I imagine. But hey, gotta experiment every now and again, no?

Beetlejuice. I loved that show. Good times.

Just saw a performance of the musical "Once" at PPAC, and it renewed my appreciation of the idea that a romance doesn't have to end with the two protagonists falling for each other. There was certainly enough sexual chemistry between Guy and Girl throughout (without actual hanky-panky), and technically both have their "happily ever after" with their true loves, although the show ends before the audience gets to see that.

This is Fluttershy:

Fluttershy is sad.

Fluttershy knows Paul was at over 17k words on his contest entry.

But then Paul encountered a bug, and lost 5k of progress.

This is Fluttershy.

Fluttershy understands.

She understands.