//------------------------------// // Mr. Gleamy // Story: St Trineighans School for Fillies // by SamuelK28 //------------------------------// In the end Physical Education was cancelled due to Miss Dust being confined to the infirmary by Madam Zecora alongside Sweetie and Scootaloo. Instead, with the storm having finally abated, the first-years were led by Mrs. Punch out of the back of the school right to the edge of the forest for an extended Chemistry lesson. Here, hidden away amongst the dense foliage of the Everfree Forest, a ginormous greenhouse that contained a vineyard with its own microclimate stood. Magic infused lamps that replicated Celestia’s sun blazed down from the ceiling upon the grapes that were awaiting harvest whilst in one corner there were several Pegasi pushing around rain clouds to ensure that the vines were properly hydrated. After being divided into pairs, over the next three hours the first years picked, inspected, and then sorted thousands of grapes into either the bin for pig slop or the baskets for what was destined to become ambrosia. By the end of the extended lesson, even Apple Bloom was starting to feel the strain of a hard evening's work as the reduced group of four friends trudged off a water fountain for rest and refreshment before they had to report for their Art class. “I still can’t believe you two beat us!” Apple Bloom griped waiting for the last of her friends to finish having a drink. “Seriously Bloom? Both of us may be the most experienced farm ponies in our year but even we can’t compete against chaos magic and a freaking alicorn,” Ruby replied flatly. “Fair point,” Bloom concurred reluctantly. “Still, did you have to turn the grapes every colour of the rainbow Screwball?” Ruby continued, turning her head in the direction of the aforementioned filly. Upon seeing the smile that adorned Screwball’s face along with the swirling pools of madness that were her eyes, Ruby wisely decided to answer her own line of enquiry. “Right, daughter of chaos. I suppose I should look on the bright side; mum’s happy enough with them and thinks she might be able to craft a rainbow-coloured wine that she can sell for an astronomical number of bits. Also, between the whole class we broke the record for the most grapes picked in a single session.” Screwball giggled in response before adding, “You’re welcome!” “Just be glad you didn’t have to sort through them all,” Moon chipped in finishing at the water fountain. “I can tell you now, that was not fun.” “That’s something we can both agree on,” Ruby concurred. “I could barely keep up with Bloom; she was bucking vines so swiftly. I’ve never seen grapes collected in such a way before. Usually, the unicorns pick them in bunches with their magic or Pegasi gently with their wings and then the earth ponies use their magic to examine and separate the good from the bad.” “Pfft, those trees were weak. I can barely get one or two apples of our trees back on the farm. Just be grateful my sister or brother aren’t here. They would have likely sent them flying out the ground!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. "Hold up," Moon interjected. "Did you just say the grapes are usually picked in bunches?" "Yes," Ruby replied momentarily turning to face Moon before anticipating her next question. "But if even one grape is bad in a bunch it could spoil the taste of the wine, thus why my mum insists every grape is inspected individually." "Huh, fair enough, although I do still think it's unfair we had to pick them," Moon grumbled. "Do you know how to make wine?" Ruby retorted. "No," Moon replied. "Then there's your answer and chin up, it usually takes week if not a full month to clear the vineyard totally but if we work at today's pace we could probably have it done after one maybe two more lessons!" "Swell," Moon grumbled under her breath. Ruby ignored her and turned back to Apple Bloom. "Now, where was I. Ah yes. Those vines, or trees as you referred to them as, might be weak but they are also extremely valuable,” Ruby stated, unable to continue her explanation as Apple Bloom cut her off. “I don’t doubt it. It’s the same with our apple trees. Each and every seed was hoof-picked from the best apples of the best trees and then planted and nurtured until it came to maturity and bore only the finest apples in the entirety of Equestria. Many have tried to replicate our success but no pony aside an Apple have ever managed to grow apples even half as delicious as those at Sweet Apple Acres. That was one of the first lessons Applejack taught me. Respect the trees that give you food and they shall in turn reward you. It’s why I tried to be extra careful when bucking your weakling trees, sorry vines," Apple Bloom mocked resulting in a playful tongue being stuck out at her by Ruby, "as I’m guessing the same applies.” “Precisely. It’s partly why my mum’s wines are so sought after, because she only uses the best individually picked grapes that are nurtured to perfection giving the wine the perfect flavour. It’s also why the grapes are usually hoof, wing or magically picked, to prevent them or the vine from being damaged. You nearly gave me a heart attack when I saw you buck that first vine! I only just managed to get the baskets in the correct positions in time,” Ruby admitted. “My pleasure,” Apple Bloom replied cheekily. “Sorry I scared ya. I had to test out my theory before you could stop me. I was just as afraid I was going to break a leg or worse, your scrawny roots.” That last remark earned her a grape to the head from Ruby. "You ever refer to my family's vines as scrawny roots again..." "And what?" Apple Bloom interrupted with a devilish smirk edging ever closer to her pack mate. Before she could leap at Ruby though Moon's commanding voice echoed through the hallway. "SIT." Apple Bloom's and Ruby's flanks hit the solid stone floor faster than lightning. "Mooooooon," Ruby whined, "What gives?" "Don't give me that look, I knew exactly what both of you were thinking. No play fighting in the corridors, I don't need my mother giving me Tartarus for not keeping my new subjects in line." "But..." Ruby began. "Do a backflip," Moon commanded. Apple Bloom winced as Ruby attempted to do a backflip and ended up landing with a sickening crunch on her back on the stone floor knocking all the wind from her body. "Well? I'm waiting?" Apple Bloom managed to force her gaze from Ruby to see Moon staring expectantly at her. "Or would you rather..." Apple Bloom swiftly turned back to Ruby. "I'm sorry I goaded you, it was not at all kind of me and it is nice to have a similar age pony to talk about farming with." "Apology accepted and same here," Ruby wheezed from the floor before turning to Moon with a telling look. "Damn Moon that hurt. You owe me for that one." Moon sighed, "Whatever you want, it'll have to wait. I need to get going and find some place to lay low for the next few periods. No way am I going to be stuck in a classroom with that stuck up, obnoxious and arrogant witch. I just don’t know what my mum sees in her. ‘Oh, look at me, I’m the Elusive and Mysterious Madam Trixie; revel in my averageness and oversized ego.’” Moon mocked before suddenly finding something clamping over her hooves, then her horn and finally, her back and barrel. “Your mother thought you might play truant from my class; so, she kindly asked me to ensure you did not,” Madam Trixie’s unpleased voice suddenly sounded from behind Moon. “Sounds like it was a good thing she did. Anyhoof, today we shall be continuing your studies on escaping dangerous situations. I was going to demonstrate myself first to give you all a helping hoof but it looks like Moon here has volunteered to meet Mr. Gleamy first instead. Come along girls,” Trixie instructed not waiting for a reply as she levitated Moon, who was now sporting a straitjacket and a magic dampening horn ring along with her hind hooves hobbled.” The three remaining fillies hastily followed, somewhat intrigued but mostly not wanting to suffer a similar fate as their friend. * “ARE YOU INSANE!” Moon screamed from where she currently dangled precariously above a large pool of water in the straitjacket that that was now cocooned in silver chain. “WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?” “You mean Mr. Gleamy? He does have a name you know and in your current predicament I’d suggest not making him angry by hurting his feelings. In reply to your question, he’s a great white shark. Fluttershy saved him as a nipper after he washed up on an Equestrian beach. Don’t worry; if you fail to escape in time he won’t hurt you, much. I’m sure it won’t take the Princess of Werewolves that long to regenerate a limb. At worst, you’ll be eaten, partially digested and spend a few days in the infirmary recuperating after coming out his rear end but I’m sure someone as skilled as yourself can avoid that situation. Shall we begin the demonstration?” “When I get out of this, I’m going to ram your horn where the sun doesn’t shine and then, if my mums haven’t intervened by that point, tear you apart piece by piece and make you watch as I do so," Moon threatened, continuing to scream at the top of her lungs. “Oh, what’s that? You want me to drop you straight in the water? Okay then,” Madam Trixie responded pushing a lever. “What? Don’t you daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaare,” Moon screamed as she began hurtling towards the water. That was until a ginormous maw rose from it, filled with extremely sharp, gleaming white teeth. At least she now knew where the shark got its name from before she died, Moon thought to herself as she closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable, only for the inevitable to never arrive. Instead, there was a sudden gust of wind followed by a solid lump hitting her and sending her crashing to the ground but, to her relief, not in the shark-filled pool of water. “You can open your eyes now; I got you,” Apple Bloom chuckled. “You really think we’d let our princess get eaten by a shark? Not likely,” Apple Bloom scoffed. “Tartarus no, not more silver,” she hissed. “I don’t want another cone of shame. Screwball, any chance of a helping hoof?” “Tsk, tsk, some princess,” Trixie mocked in reply as Screwball bounced across to help. “Although, I’ll give you one plus for that daring rescue and having loyal subjects at least. Now, who wants to go next or would you like to try one of the other pits I’ve set up over the past hour? The pit of acid perhaps? The pit of snakes maybe? Or how about a pit of spikes or creepy purple gunk with eyes?” Everypony stepped back. “Seriously? There is no need to be afraid. I won’t make it quite as hard as Moon’s test; she is an alicorn after all. Wait, what are you doing?” Trixie questioned as she was suddenly lifted off the ground by an invisible force and flung into the shark infested pool of water. “And you should stop rabbiting on and check to see where exactly said subjects are. Enjoy your bath,” Ruby grumbled, reappearing in a position that had, until moments ago, been just behind Trixie. She wobbled unsteadily for a moment before stabilising herself. “Dang, that invisibility spell really does take a lot out of you. Heaving that fat lump into the pool didn’t help either even with my increased werewolf strength,” she muttered to herself before turning to Moon, ignoring the screams and sounds of frantic splashing that had erupted from the shark pool. “Your highness, would it be okay if I collapse?” “Erm, sure, go ahead but are you okay Rubes?” Moon said as Screwball finished removing the straitjacket whilst Apple Bloom worked on removing the hobbles. Ruby had already collapsed to the floor, her energy totally drained from the invisibility spell. Meanwhile, Trixie had managed to drag herself from the pool. Impressively, she had managed to escape Mr. Gleamy’s clutches with no more than a few scratches and a shiny white tooth embedded in her rump. She had a wild look in her eyes and cackled like some kind of madmare who had just escaped an insane asylum. “You really thought a mere shark could take down the Elusive and Majestic Trixie?” she exclaimed before cackling some more. “Now, no more distractions. Who’s next?” Once again, the gaggle of students looked at one another nervously as they swiftly took another step back, preparing to bolt if necessary. “Come on, don’t be shy, I’m sure you’ll do just fine,” Trixie encouraged. And then Mr. Gleamy leapt out of the pool and devoured Trixie whole. * Luna stared at the chaos before her and almost wished she’d remained in her Nightmare form. To her left Fluttershy was consoling a ginormous great white shark that was not only somehow breathing out of water but also crying into her fur. Luna would have been wondering how either of these were possible if it wasn’t for the fact the shark now also sported fur, legs and paws. Meanwhile, to her right, Apple Bloom looked less than pleased sporting a cone of shame whilst Zecora was forcing Ruby to drink something whilst scolding the filly in Zebrican. The zebra must have been extremely displeased with whatever Ruby had done if she was doing that. And then, to top it all off, standing in front of her, were Trixie and Moon. Both looked like they might pounce on the other at any moment. “Okay, where shall we start? Perhaps with how Mr. Gleamy came to have fur, legs and paws?” Luna sighed as her hoof met her temple. She felt a headache coming along. She knew this particular year of students was going to be a difficult bunch but this was getting ridiculous and Trixie certainly wasn’t helping matters. “That blasted shark ate me; it should be vaporised,” Trixie spat angrily covered in slime, smelling nearly as bad as the werewolves and desperately needing a shower. “How dare it even attempt to eat me!” “Attempt is the right word. You tasted so vile he vomited you back up again. Told us he’s had seaweed that tasted better,” Moon retorted with a smirk. “He said what!” Trixie exclaimed. “Why else do you think Fluttershy had to empty his tank? He has good taste if you ask me, unlike my other mum,” Moon said, muttering the last bit under her breath. “What was that?” Trixie growled angrily. “You heard me, skank.” “Detention, for a month, for insulting your teacher. I wonder how many times you can write ‘I will not call my teacher names,’ in that time?” Trixie growled. “Teacher, teacher? Is that what you call yourself. I thought it was attempted filly murderer? In two lessons so far, you’ve tried to drown and blow up my classmates and feed me to a shark because I gave a rather accurate representation of you. Would you like to see it mum?” Luna wasn’t paying her daughter any attention having turned to face a now nervous looking Trixie. “You tried to feed my daughter to Mr. Gleamy?” Luna said deliberately slowly, a clear edge to her voice. “W-w-well, y-y-you see…” Trixie began only to be interrupted by Apple Bloom. “Yeah, hobbled her hooves together, put a magical dampener on her horn and then restrained her in a straitjacket with silver chains even better than my sister can do with a lasso. Didn’t even give her a chance to get herself free, just sent her freefalling straight into the waiting jaws of Mr. Gleamy. Well, would have, if I hadn’t saved her. How do you think I got these silver burns?” “Well, that at least answers one of my questions. Thank you, Apple Bloom, for your testimony and diligent actions. I’ll reward you in due course. As for you, Madam Trixie, what do you have to say for yourself in your defence? Wait, where did she go?” Luna had only turned her head for a second but that was all Trixie had needed. She had, for once, chosen the sensible option and fled rather than face up to a pissed off mentally unstable alicorn whose daughter she’d just tried to feed to a hungry shark, even if said daughter was invulnerable to practically everything aside silver. Luna sighed. “I’ll deal with her later,” she muttered under her breath turning back to Apple Bloom. “Honest Apple, would you be so kind to fill me in from the beginning please?” she requested politely. “Of course, your highness. It all began as we took a stop at a water fountain for a drink on our way from helping Berry with the grape harvest in her vineyard,” Apple Bloom began. “Yes, I heard of that. Berry sent word to me of the excellent work all of you first-years had done for her and was extremely pleased with all of your hard work and effort to help her,” Luna commented. “Sorry, please go on,” she swiftly added. “Well, anyway, we were just finishing up when Moon announced she wasn’t planning on attending Art,” Apple Bloom admitted. “I see,” Luna said turning her gaze toward her daughter. “And why might that be?” “Bloom!” Moon whined. “Hey, she’s your mother, the headmistress and a princess. Lying to her would be as bad as trying to lie to mah sister and trust me, you do not want to do that unless you want your hide whipped and to be sent to bed with no dinner,” Apple Bloom retorted with a shiver, remembering one such time she had tried to mislead her sister about how a window had been broken when she was five. She hadn’t done that again. “Your sister sounds like a smart mare Apple Bloom; maybe you can continue filling me in seeing as my own daughter seems reluctant to?” Luna asked politely. “You know why already!” Moon spat angrily. “And Starlight even sent her to try and ensure I didn’t play hooky. That’s how this mess even happened in the first place. If mum had just kept her nose out of my business, none of this craziness would have happened,” Moon argued. Luna looked a little confuddled after that statement. “Let me translate. Moon was insulting and mocking Madam Trixie unaware she had appeared right behind her. Thus, she decided to use Moon as her test subject for our latest lesson in escaping dangerous situations,” Apple Bloom simplified. “Moon did not take this well and may have insulted Trixie some more, specifically to do with shoving her horn where the sun doesn’t shine and making her watch as she ripped her to pieces. Looking back, this was most certainly not a smart thing to do when hanging over a pool of water with a hungry shark in it, especially when the pony who has control over your freedom or demise is the pony you are threatening,” Apple Bloom concluded. “You think? I’m guessing Trixie proceeded to drop you then to your doom and Apple Bloom intervened?” Luna sought to clarify turning to her daughter. “Yeah, and then, as Apple Bloom and Screwball saw to helping free me, Ruby used an invisibility spell to sneak up behind Trixie and throw her into Mr. Gleamy’s pool,” Moon answered. “An invisibility spell? At her age? Well, that explains why she looks like death and is getting a rollicking from Zecora. Such a spell is not only extremely difficult to cast but requires a ridiculous amount of magic to cast. I’m impressed but she could have easily caused herself serious harm by being so reckless. Such powerful magic should not be used lightly, by one so young or for such trivial means as getting back at one’s teacher,” Luna cautioned. “Huh, I guess that explains why she passed out shortly after performing it,” Moon responded. “Anyway, I’m guessing you are wondering why Apple Bloom bit Mr Gleamy and turned him into a wereshark?” “That would be nice to know, yes,” Luna replied. “Well, after Trixie managed to get out of the pool, Mr. Gleamy was less than happy about losing his prey so leapt after and ate her whole only to realise too late that, one, Trixie tasted terrible, and two, he couldn’t breathe out of water. We tried to get him back into his pool but he was just to slippery, so, as Screwball went to fetch a competent teacher, we took the drastic step and decided to bite him in the hope he’d be able to breathe out of water. Miraculously it worked, with some mild side effects and now I have a wereshark at my disposal. He’s actually really friendly once you get to know him and even apologised for trying to eat me, saying he was upset because of the ‘blue one constantly taunting him and teasing him with food’. It’s nice to have somecreature that despises Trixie just as much as I do and I think that just about sums up everything as well, Mum,” Moon finished, “Oh, aside the fact that Mr. Gleamy is also really upset Trixie’s fat arse stole one of his prized teeth.” Luna’s headache was slowly becoming a migraine. “Class dismissed,” she instructed. “As for you dear daughter, I think there shall be a slight change to tonight’s rearranged baking competition…”