//------------------------------//
// Yelling at the Moon 
// Story: Egg Head's guide to Mare's Tales 
// by wubwave 
//------------------------------//

	“Alright everypony set up the decorations. Quickly she’ll be home soon! Oooh Bonbon start over the door, Vinyl do your thing, Octavia start with the lights please,” the pink earth pony squealed in excitement as she bounced around the empty home, leaving her companions to carry in the boxes of party favors from the cart outside.
“Sure thing Pinkie, hey Derpy, keep a look out, we don’t want Lyra finding out about this yet,” Vinyl ordered, floating her grey earth pony friend Octavia a hoof full of party lights. Derpy the grey pegasus took off and flew out of the door as she set about keeping a cocked eye out for the mint green mare of honor.
Bonbon, the earth pony with the blue and magenta streaked mane, grabbed a mouthful of streamers and got to work decorating her friend’s home for the surprise Nightmare Night party. “I can’t believe we didn’t do this earlier,’ she said dropping the hammer in her mouth, returning to grab more tacks, ‘Lyra has always been such a fuddy duddy when it came to Nightmare Night. Did you know that she never went out with us to get candy when we were fillies? Always stayed at home by herself,” her nasally voice explained as she continued to place her collection of ribbons and tassels.
“Nightmare Night has always been my most favorite of holidays, it always has the most beautiful full moons of the year,” Octavia said looking out at the bright perfectly round moon that lit up the night as she returned to Vinyl for more lights to pin up.
“Pfft lame, the parties on Nightmare Night are the best part of the celebration. When else can you dress up like a slutty vampire…or slutty pirate?” Vinyl tossed back her blue hair, while the others tossed sideways glances.
“Speaking of costumes, what are you gals going as?” Pinkie asked excitedly as she strolled back in carrying a platter full of cupcakes.
“I’m going with the classic,’ Bonbon said flatly pulling out a tall black hat, ‘a witch. One of these years I’ll have to mix it up, go as a zebra or something.”
“That’s kinda racist Bonbon…. But I’m going as a slutty DJ,” Vinyl giggled as she plugged in her audio equipment.
“But you’re always that…” Derpy innocently interrupted returning from her lookout, sticking an awkward hoof through the outside window at get to the muffin platter set up against the wall.
Octavia let out a snort as she burst into laughter while Vinyl frowned from across the room, “laugh it up Octavia. What are you going to be? Not a cello again right? I still remember having to carry you around in that thing last year, you might as well have had a suitcase as your costume.”
“No, I am going as my favorite musician.” 
“Let me guess…” Vinyl scoffed.
The grey earth pony smiled at her companion and pulled out a pair of Vinyl’s red glasses and a blue wig from her saddle bags on the floor, raising a round of “awes” from the others when she tugged the short blue wig over her long black mane, looking like a ridiculous hybrid of her regular proper self and the partying nature of her marefriend.
“Are you going as a chicken again Pinkie?”  Bonbon asked as she delicately placed a pair of plastic spiders on the table.
“Oh no,’ she began sadly, ‘Fluttershy lost one of her chickens a few nights ago, it would’ve been insensitive to her. It seems she loses an animal every Nightmare Night, no wonder that pony hates the holiday,” the pink mare answered as she carried in more plates of food, a mix of sweets and greens to fill up everypony that would be coming. 
Vinyl finished with a set of speakers and set about on the next arrangement of equipment, “Where’s Whooves by the way? Despite his cutiemark, his special talent sure isn’t being on time.”
“Maybe he has a patient,” Derpy said with a mouthful of baked confectionary.
"He’s not that kind of Doctor-“
“Hey, does anypony know where to put the ice cream?” Pinkie interrupted with concern as the large party sundae she carried in on her back began to melt.
Bonbon dropped her mouth full of tassels as she trotted ahead of pinkie to guide her through the home, “Lyra has a fridge you can use, I don’t think she’ll mind,” she said as she opened door of the appliance. Pinkie gasped in horror and leapt back, sending the ice cream platter onto the floor as she scampered away from the open refrigerator.
“What? What’s wrong?” Bonbon asked as she looked up at the fridge and matched Pinkie’s shock. “Meat!” She squealed in horror as she tried to run away from the frozen carcass in the fridge. The commotion broke the others from their tasks as they made their way to the kitchen to see what had happened, even Derpy left her snack behind and flew through the window to see what was going on.The refrigerator held a single chicken body, cleaned of its feathers, butchered, beheaded and prepared for consumption. Everypony stood in horror at what they saw, even Vinyl turned green and looked like she was going to vomit.
The door slammed behind the group as they spun around to find Lyra standing there with a look of shock on her face as well, “what are you doing here? Oh, no, no you can’t be here,” she began to panic behind her green and white mane as her friends gaped in horror at her. “You can’t be here! No please, you need to leave.”
“We’re not going anywhere Lyra, what’s wrong with you?” Bonbon shouted, trying to get a grasp on what was happening. Taking a few terrified steps away from her lifelong companion, “You eat meat? You-You can’t eat meat! Ponies don’t eat meat.”

Lyra shrieked in pain and fell to the floor, her arms shaking as she tried to regain her stance, “I know…” she managed to force out as she screamed again. The soft crack of bones breaking could be heard beneath the green pony’s flesh as her skeleton seemed to shift and move under her muscle. Her mint coat began to dissolve under an unknown magical influence leaving most of her skin bare.
Everypony squeaked in horror and clawed their way to the far end of the room to get away from the grizzly scene. Her delicately polished and filed hooves split out into long gangly digits that ended in stubby nails. Lyra’s mane was left untouched as her face receded farther back, her snout becoming nothing more than a small nose.
The fleshy, lanky figure that replaced Lyra performed its most disturbing trick. She raised herself to the elbows and knees, and wobbly stood upright, gaining her balance as her freed arms swayed back and forth. Her blunt mouth curled into a wicked smile as she viewed her friends cowering, “…Nightmare Night always did have such beautiful fullmoons..” she said throwing her untouched hair over her shoulder.The other ponies began to cry and whimper at the sight of her, her long legs carrying her forward, her hands out stretched and fingers undulating in anticipation, “ I’ve never eaten pony before…mwuhahaha-“
______
“…hahaha!” Lyra continued as she held the flashlight in front of her face.
“Yes we get it…” Octavia moaned from her bed.
“That wasn’t even that scary Lyra, what was the monster even supposed to be anyway?” Bonbon asked as she blew onto her mug of hot chocolate to cool it down.
“I’m a human in the story…come on don’t you read at all?” Lyra asked, disappointed her story fell flat.
“Humans aren’t real are they?” Derpy asked with the covers over her nose.
“If they were they would’t be that scar-“ Vinyl began.
“Boo!” pinkie yelled as she jumped out under the bed, sending Octavia and Vinyl huddling for each other in fright. The group laughed as they enjoyed their late night sweets. Derpy regained her courage and returned to sampling the slumber party’s wide array of treats.
The pleasant commrodery was broken as a tapping sound began to fill everypony’s ears. A slowly building orchestra of hoof steps called out from down stairs as the hooves’ owner approached the bedroom from below. Everypony stopped their munching and talking to look at the door, waiting to see what was coming.
“Does anyone hear hoof steps?” Bonbon asked nervously.
Everypony nodded before the door opened, but as it did they each let out a sigh of relief once the brown earth pony entered, “I’m terribly sorry, when nature calls and all that…” the buck said as he took his seat.
“Alright, Whooves is next,” Pinkie said filling her mouth with cupcakes.
The room stayed silent before the buck spoke up, “Come on, didn’t you hear her, who’s next?”
“No, you Whooves, come on you must have a mare’s tale to tell,” Bonbon asked hopefully.
The buck tapped his chin to remember, “Well…how about his one?-”