The Horror!
Bzzt! Bzzt!
…..
Bzzt! Bzzt!
…..
Bzzt! Bzzt!
A hand reached over the bedside table, fingers grappling for the phone. Lyra grabbed it and tapped her thumb on the screen until the buzzing finally stopped. She yawned as she lazily brought the phone to her ear. “Mmmm.”
“Don’t you know what time it is?”
Lyra pulled away from her phone to glance at the screen and moaned as her head flopped back onto her pillow. “Class doesn’t start ‘till, like, 8:20. It’s 7:30.”
“Uh, yeah, 7:30 on Halloween! Come on, get up, get dressed! I know you, Lyra. You’re lying around in bed with the T.V. still on, aren’t you?”
Lyra sat up and blinked at a random television show that was on her screen, and her other hand fumbled across the sheets in search of the remote. “No I’m not,” she mumbled. “I’m up, okay? Just lemme…” She slipped out of bed while rubbing sleep out of her eyes. “Lemme shower, ‘Kay?”
“Well, make it a quick one, hurry, hurry! I’m already putting the finishing touches on it! Just wait till you see it. I look SMOKIN’.”
Lyra rolled her eyes and hung up. She went over to her closet and grabbed her costume wrapped in plastic and unzipped it. I really hope I won’t be around dirt today, she thought. Lyra pulled the white dress with laced sleeves over her head and tugged it twice and smoothed it over. She looked behind her with a smile and gently shook her shoulders, letting her small silvery wings sway in the air.
Lyra went over to her dresser to retrieve the final part of her costume when she caught her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was a bushy mess. “Ew! Yucksville!” After running a comb through her feathery locks, she placed the missing item on top of her head. She nodded her head twice and her halo bobbed along with it. “I make the perfect angel.” She hummed contentedly as she sprayed body glitter on her chest, shoulder, and arms.
Lyra paused, realizing that she forgot to shower; then she glanced at the clock. 7:45. Ouch. She simply shrugged and applied some deodorant. I took a shower last night, I’ll be fine.
BEEP BEEP!
Lyra jumped and shuffled over to the window and looked out to see Bon Bon honking her horn, glaring up impatiently. Lyra waved a hand out the window and grabbed her white flats and school bag before leaving the room.
Lyra bounded down the porch steps, accompanied by the loud honking of Bon Bon’s horn. “Okay, okay, I’m coming! I don’t even have shoes on yet!”
“Put them on in the car!” Bon Bon looked up and grinned as Lyra observed her costume. She stood there with a hand against her chin before giving her friend a confused look. “I thought you were going as a spy. What are you?”
Bon Bon’s grin dropped from her face. “What do you think I am?”
Lyra frowned slightly at Bon Bon’s silky black dress with two thin straps. Bon Bon rolled her eyes exasperatingly. “I’m a mouse!” She pointed to her head, which were two fuzzy ears on top of her black hair band. “Duh!”
Lyra couldn't help but smirk as she got inside the topless convertible and tossed her school bag to the backseat. “Of course you are,” she said with a light laugh. “They’re gonna love it. What do you think of my costume?"
Bon Bon looked her over and nodded in approval. "It's a thousand times better than that unicorn costume you wear every year."
"Hey!"
They shifted into conversing about the latest things happening around school while Bon Bon drove a just notch above speed limit, causing fallen autumn leaves to scatter across the street as they blew past. A pang of discomfort suddenly emanated from Lyra's lower body. Lyra winced slightly and shifted in her seat, but the feeling went as swiftly as it came.
Maybe it’s because I didn’t eat breakfast this morning. I’ll just have to fill up on candy they give away at school.
As they drew closer to Canterlot High School, Lyra was starting to wish she had brought along a jacket. She could tell Bon Bon was thinking the same thing as they parked. “Why does it have to be so frigid?” Bon Bon shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself after slamming the car door. Students swarmed around them in all sorts of costumes.
“Well, it is almost November,” a voice laughed from behind. Lyra glanced over her shoulder and laughed at the sight of Flash Sentry in a police uniform. He lowered his sunglasses at the two girls with a humorous look in his eyes. “You're both under arrest…” He looked them up and down. “...For stealing my previous costume ideas.”
“Seriously?” Bon Bon deadpanned, but couldn’t keep from smiling. “A cop?”
Flash pushed up his sunglasses and struck a pose. “I know what you’re thinking, Bon. And the answer is yes. What you see here is very much a reality.”
Lyra shook her head. Although the relationship between the three of them was platonic, she did enjoy the occasional play-flirting. Flash walked up and put both his arms around Lyra and Bon Bon’s shoulders as they strolled through the busy quad. “But now I’m a cop with a mouse and an angel by my side.”
Bon Bon giggled and batted her eyelashes. “You say the sweetest things.”
Just then, the warning bell rang, and students scurried from all parts of the front lawn and into the building. Late comers jumped out of cars and uttered quick goodbyes to their parents before quickly adjusting their costumes.
The trio made their way inside Canterlot High; Bon Bon went down another hall and waved to her friends as she departed to her first period. “See you guys later!”
Lyra and Flash walked into their History class with two minutes to spare, the only period they shared together. Lyra took her seat near the middle of the classroom with Fluttershy sitting in the seat next to her in simple wedding gown and veil. "You look beautiful, Lyra," Fluttershy said with a smile.
"Thanks! You too!"
As more student filed in, Lyra caught a glimpse of Applejack in a tin costume, and despite the loud chatter, she could hear the clomp clomp of her metal boots as she waddled down the hallway.
Ms. Harshwhinny stepped out from behind her desk and clapped her hands, effectively ending all conversation. “Good morning, class,” she said as the final bell rang. “You all look lovely this morning--however, let me be perfectly clear. Just because it’s Halloween, it does not mean that we won’t have class time today.”
Collective groans filled the air.
“C’mon, Miss H,” Flash said from the back of the room. “It’s bad enough we gotta come to school on a national holiday!”
“Halloween is not a holiday!”
Cheese Sandwich parted the curtains of his shower costume and peeked out with a joyous grin. “Where’s your costume, Ms. Harshwhinny?”
The teacher in question snorted and rolled her eyes. “I do not dress up for Halloween, nor do I give away candy to those little beggars that come banging on my door each year!” She retrieved a stack of papers from her desk and started to pass them out row by row.
“But I understand that teachers must give out some kind of treat if Halloween ever were to befall on a school day. If we complete this worksheet before the period is over, you may all get one lollipop.” Harshwhinny walked up to the board and picked up a stick of chalk. “Now, let’s begin. Today, we are going to be learning…”
A stabbing sensation made Lyra flinch in pain. Then another. Lyra clamped her legs together and held in a whimper. My period! It’s come early! she thought in dismay. The teenager clamped her mouth shut and gritted her teeth. It hurt. It hurt more than anything else in the world.
It felt like someone was repeatedly stabbing her lower abdomen with a butcher knife. Lyra took a deep breath, picked up her pen, and started filling in the blanks on the worksheet as Ms. Harshwhinny wrote out the answers on the board.
“...an army known as the Night Guard went up against the tyranny that was…”
Another shot of pain made her jolt in her seat, her pen clattering against the desk. “Ah!” Fluttershy cast a curious glance in her direction and mouthed Are you okay?
Lyra bobbed her head, feeling truly and utterly embarrassed. Unfortunately, Ms. Harshwhinny was very strict on how often students go to the bathroom during class. Each student was allowed six bathroom breaks per semester, and Lyra had used them all. I’m never drinking slushies before class again!
After two minutes of holding her legs together with force, the pain ebbed slightly. She glanced at the clock and picked up her pen. Okay. I can do it. I can make it. Just twenty more minutes until class is over. I don’t. Feel. Pain. I don’t feel pain, I don’t feel pain, I don’t feel pain--
Lyra gasped as a wrenching sensation tore through her body. Her legs shot out in a fit of indescribable agony. I FEELPAIN! A few heads turned in her direction and she gave a weak grin before they returned their attention to Ms. Harshwhinny and her ongoing lesson.
Lyra silently rocked back and forth in her seat with clenched fists. She suppressed a groan when little pangs started forming in her lower backside. She continued rocking with tears forming in her eyes. To her left, Cheese frowned slightly, looking very much confused; he wondered whether or not he should raise his hand or something.
The pangs wouldn’t stop, and Lyra kept bouncing lightly in her chair. The torture wasn’t going away anytime soon.
Harshwhinny continued writing on the board with lackluster. “The voyagers carried with them their flag that bore a moon and sun, and the Buffalo tribe that greeted them led them to--”
Lyra arched her back and screamed when a jolt of pain shot up her butt. Every single student stopped writing regarded her with wide eyes. Ms. Harshwhinny slowly turned from the board and glared at her, looking both shocked and angry at the same time. “Miss Heartstrings! What the devil is the matter with you?”
Lyra’s mouth hung open, unable to give a reasonable response. Her fellow students were visibly shocked and appalled, especially Flash. Quick as lightning, she bolted out the door. She ran down the hall until she found the girls bathroom and tugged on the door handle. It was locked. “Why would they lock the bathroom!?” Lyra whined, pulling and pushing at the door.
“They’re all gonna laugh at you!” a voice wailed from behind.
Lyra whirled around and gasped. A girl with thick glasses and a purple turtle neck stood there with a pained expression. “M-Moon Dancer!? W-What are you doing here in CH? I haven’t seen you since--”
“They’re all gonna laugh at you,” Moon Dancer warned. “...If you don’t wear that pad.”
“U-Uhh…” Lyra slowly backed down the hall and broke into a run. “Help! I need a bathroom! And an adult!”
She raced past the gym and turned a corner when she bumped into someone else. Lyra reeled back and sighed in relief. “Sweetie Belle! Oh, Sweetie Belle, it’s just you!” She wrapped her arms around the freshman and pulled her into a hug.
A pair of hands clapped by her ear. Lyra’s head jerked behind her, but there was no one there. She glanced back at Sweetie Belle, who looked at her with a blank smile. “Wanna play clap and hide?”
Lyra jumped back and moved away from the girl with horror. “What...what…”
She turned, prepared to run again, when Apple Bloom and Scootaloo appeared in front of her with dull expressions. “Come play with us, Lyra,” they said.
Lyra heard a whooshing sound. She turned around and screamed as an ocean of blood came crashing down the hall like a wave, engulfing anything and anyone in sight. Lyra ran past Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, shrieking at the top of her lungs. When she came to the main rotunda of the school, the bell rang and students milled out of classrooms, completely oblivious to the horrors Lyra had seen.
Bon Bon skipped over to her with a happy smile. “Wanna sit inside during lunch?” she asked in a high squeaky voice.
“B-Bon Bon--”
“Hey, what happened back there?” Flash asked as he joined them. “One minute you were fine, the next--OH MY GOD!”
Lyra flinched. “What!?”
Flash pointed at her dress in pure disgust. “You’re BLEEDING! Dude, that is nasty!"
Student stopped and gasped. Girls wretched. Boys collapsed. The Sirens played jump rope near the door. A sound of mourning emanated from Lyra’s throat as she observed the bloody stain spreading on her crisp white dress.
“Lyra,” Bon Bon whispered. “How could you?”
“It’s my period, I swear!” Lyra wailed, dropping to the floor. “It’s my period, I swear!”
......
Bzzt! Bzzt!
“It’s my period, I swear…”
Bzzt! Bzzt!
“It’s my period, I swear…”
Bzzt! Bzzt!
“AAH!” Lyra sat up in bed covered in sweat. She gasped and clutched at her heart as she looked around. "It...It was a dream?" she panted. "Only...a dream?" The realization finally sunk in, prompting Lyra to fall back in bed with a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness."
She closed her eyes as she reached for her vibrating phone. "More like a Nightmare. Hello? Mom? Yeah, no, I know. I'm not feeling well today, I think I'm just gonna stay home today, if that's alright. No, I'm fine, I'm just not--what was that?....My progress report? It...It came in the mail this morning!? You're about to open it!?"
Lyra sat straight up. "AAAAAHHHHHH!"